Animal Passions
by Tracy2
Summary: This is the third story in my series about Steve and Reagan Yeager. This time an animal rights demonstration leads to murder and has devastating consequences for all involved. *STORY COMPLETE* Thank you for the reviews.
1. Chapter 1 Vicious Animals

Animal Passions

**By**

**Tracy Wood**

Disclaimer: This is a work of fan-fiction, written, and hopefully read, strictly for enjoyment. The main characters of Mark, Steve, Amanda, and Jesse, as well as Alex, Cheryl, CJ, Dion, Agent Ron Wager, Captain Newman and Chief Masters are from the series Diagnosis Murder, and as such are the property of CBS/Viacom. All other characters, especially Detective Reagan Yeager, her family, Jo/Texas Walters, Martin Robertson, Officer Campbell, Theresa Mulligan, and Doctor Dobson, the Worthington's and all the activists are mine.

This is the continuation of Rae's life in Los Angeles. The story starts a few months after Following In Her Footsteps finished. You don't need to have read that story or the first one of the series, Suffer Little Children, but as you will find out who the murderers were by reading this one, you may like to read them first. I am grateful for all the kind words I received about both my other stories, they were my first efforts and the reviews were much appreciated. I hope you will review this one too. 

Once again my thanks go to my wonderful beta reader, this wouldn't be such a pleasure without her.

Vicious Animals

Steve and Rae drove towards the precinct. They had just finished giving evidence in the Levington Case.

"Glad that's ended?" Steve turned to look at his partner, he hadn't realised that he had been concerned about today, but he felt considerably happier now that it was over. He'd just given evidence, but only for about two hours. Rae had been on the witness stand for the last five days. Now all they had to do was wait for the verdict.

"Oh, yeah, I can't tell you how much. You know I've been practicing that in my mind over and over, the last couple of weeks. In some ways it all seems such a long time ago. I was afraid I would forget something and he would walk. I couldn't do that to Jesse, or everybody else who was involved." She smiled across at him, but her smile turned to concern as she felt the brakes being slammed on.

"What the…?" Steve looked through the windshield. He had been about to turn into the parking lot, but the entrance was full of people with placards.

The protester nearest to the car put his head in Rae's open window. "Hey, pig! The law protects the wrong animals." She saw Steve move for his gun, but Rae put her finger on the man's forehead.

"I suggest you move!" She pushed gently, and to her surprise and immense relief the face moved backwards. 

Steve immediately pressed the window control hoping that it would work. His car was due in the shop to have it fixed. When they had left the courtroom parking lot and Rae had opened the window to pay the fee it had refused to close. This time however, everything worked as it should and the window slid silently shut. He placed his hand on the horn and having blasted it a couple of times slowly edged the car forward. The demonstrators called his bluff until the last moment and then they parted and he drove to his regular parking space.

Rae got out of the car and looked back. She reckoned there were about twenty people milling around by the entrance. She turned and followed Steve into the precinct.

"Morning, Bob, I gather we have somebody in here that our visitors outside would like back." Rae smiled at the desk sergeant. She noticed that he looked a little stressed.

"We have three people they would like back, Detective. They're all animal rights activists. They were demonstrating outside Worthington Laboratories this morning, apparently those we have here decided to try to enter the building, and got violent when they were stopped."

"Oh, well, nothing to do with us, I'm pleased to say. My caseload is too heavy as it is. See you later, Bob." Rae turned and walked up the stairs. Steve hadn't waited while she chatted and was sitting at his desk surrounded by files.

They had spent the last two weeks investigating the shooting of a night watchman on the docks. At first they had thought that they would be able to solve it with a little luck, but now they knew that luck wasn't on their side and they were about to file most of the information away, and move onto more current cases.

"Do you want me to take those down to records for you?" Rae looked over at her partner, he looked tired and a little down now that they were in the precinct. He didn't answer her so she tried again. "Would you like me to take those down to records for you?" When he still didn't reply she walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "Steve, are you all right?"

"What, oh, sorry, Rae, did you say something?" He had obviously been miles away. 

"What's up?" She sat down on the corner of his desk and looked at her friend with concern in her eyes.

"Lucy dumped me last night."

"Oh, Steve, I'm sorry. Do you want to tell me about it, or would you rather I left you in peace for a little while?"

"No, I'm fine, we hadn't been together that long, it's just that she couldn't even tell me to my face, there was a note waiting on the mat for me when I got home last night." He got up, took an armful of files and left the room. 

Rae let him go, she knew that he had said all that he was going to, and that he would probably prefer her space to her company right now. She went over and made two drinks, coffee for Steve and an herbal tea for herself. She smiled, when she had got back from London, she'd found a box of herbal tea bags by the coffee machine and kettle. That had been a couple of months ago now, she had no idea if anybody else used them, but it made her feel at home.

There was a sudden commotion in the hallway outside, and the chanting sounds of the protestors floated into the squad room, closely followed by five masked demonstrators. 

"Free the innocent… Animals have rights too… Pigs are cruel to animals …" Rae spun round to find herself eye to eye with the man who had got so close to her as they tried to enter the parking lot. 

"Hold it right there, buddy. I don't think you really want to be in here, unless you would like me to arrest you for something." Bob was suddenly standing behind the activist, his face set like stone.

"Yeah, pig, and what can you charge me with? This is a public building. Anybody can come in here."

"Only as far as the front desk. This is the homicide division, where we always have a few unsolved cases floating about. Now out!" 

The protestor spat at Bob and moved closer to Rae. Instinctively her hand reached for her gun, but she didn't remove it from her holster. Her eyes never left him, and she saw him move his fingers. She went to draw her gun and heard another one being cocked behind him. 

"Freeze. Drop the weapon, or I'll fire." Steve was standing in the doorway; he looked a lot taller than his six foot two inch frame. 

Rae saw and heard the knife fall to the ground. She took her handcuffs off the back of her belt and hauled the man round and not too gently she cuffed him, and pushed him towards Bob. "I think this belongs to you!"

"You were a bit slow off the mark there, we need to go to the range and practice your draw!" Steve walked over to her.

"Hey, I was there, a second behind you, but I was there!" She looked at him. "You wouldn't have shot him in here would you? My God, the paperwork alone would be enough to make me think twice."

"If he'd taken another step towards you, yes I would have. Look at this, it would do serious damage." Steve held up a knife in his gloved hand. The blade was about six inches long and had several jagged points to it, which, due to their angle, wouldn't have caused more damage going in, but would have shredded the flesh when it was removed.

Rae shuddered. "These guys mean business. How did they get in here?"

"Brute force and ignorance I guess, but he's right, this is a public building. They left their placards outside, and didn't pull on their masks until they reached the stairs." Steve smiled as Rae handed him the coffee she had been making. They walked back over to Steve's desk and he sat down. "You realise that you are gonna have to make a statement about what happened? You didn't have any plans for tonight did you?"

Rae groaned. "Great. No, nothing much, I was going to do all those fun things that I normally do on a Monday evening. Washing, some tidying up, maybe if I'm lucky, a little reading. You know the drill, all the things that you somehow get out of, living with your dad!" Rae smiled at him as she spoke. She sometimes wondered whether it wasn't just the job that scared the girls off, but the fact that every time they went home with him they had to get past his dad. Mark was a wonderful man, gentle, kind, funny, and he had a very special place in her heart, but she had to admit that if she were dating Steve, at her age, she would find it disconcerting to find his father at home.

Rae shook herself. A few months ago Jesse would've had a fit if he knew that she had even joined the two words dating and Steve together in the same sentence, but he had got over his insecurities, and their relationship was stronger than ever. "What files do you want to keep up here? I think we ought to keep the first set of notes that we made, and then maybe the weekly appraisals we did. That way if any names, or other pieces of information that are relevant come up we will at least have a bit of idea what we are actually looking for." She was separating files as she spoke. Soon there were six files in one pile and about thirty-eight in another. She saw Steve nod, and so she picked up the larger pile and headed out towards records.

Steve sat down. He was annoyed that they hadn't found out who killed the night watchman. From what they had discovered Matthew Franks had been a nice guy. Married, two kids and a mortgage. Nothing out of the ordinary probably just being in the wrong place at the wrong time had caused his death. He wished that he could solve all of his cases although he knew that was unrealistic, but for some reason this one bugged him. He looked up to see Rae walk back into the room, closely followed by the newest recruit to the detective division and a good friend of hers, Martin Robertson.

"Hey, Martin, what brings you to the hallowed turf of homicide, Detective." Steve put great emphasis on the last word and watched with amusement as a blush crept up the young man's face.

"Uh, I need to speak to Rae about Neville Grump."

"Who?" Steve looked confused. He heard Rae try to suppress a giggle, and fail.

"Neville Grump? Oh, boy, I bet he loves his mother. So, who pray tell is Mr. Grump?" Rae was still sniggering.

"Our animal rights protestor, the one who pulled a knife on you. I need to get your statement. This is my case. Well this and the breaking and entering at the lab. Apparently they haven't had much trouble there before, which surprises me. But still, life's full of them so they say."

Rae put her hand on Martin's shoulder. "Do you want me to come with you then, and I can tell you what happened. It shouldn't take long."

"Ok, if you would like to follow me… Detective." He smiled at her and they left the room. 

Rae hadn't been gone more than about thirty seconds when her phone range. Steve got up and moved over to her desk. "Detective Yeager's phone… Oh, hi, Jess. No she's not here right now… Do you want me to get her to ring you? Oh, about an hour I would guess… Ok, see you then." 

Steve sat back down with a rueful smile. He was glad that Rae and Jesse had survived the storm that had been Phil Levington, at one point he had wondered whether they would. But if he was honest, sometimes he did get a pang of jealousy when he saw them together. She was a cop too, so how come she had found somebody who was so accommodating of what she did? Oh, well, maybe he wasn't destined to be married with children.

"Hey, Steve," He was brought out of his meanderings by a voice coming across the room. "Rae wants you to go down to the main entrance." 

Steve looked round, he couldn't see who had spoken, so he shrugged and wandered down the stairs. They had been back in the squad room for about two hours; all they had done was shuffle files.

Rae was standing by the front desk. "Ah, we have a slight problem here." Rae looked worried. "Martin is in the interview room down the hallway, our Mr. Grump has pulled another knife and has him in there. I hadn't gone in, so I moved away, but I'm not going back alone. Bob said that you're a trained negotiator, so it's all yours." 

"Ok." Rae watched fascinated, as Steve seemed to change his personality. "Right, Rae, Bob, what do we know about this guy Grump?" 

"Not much. The other four demonstrators have been interviewed and released. They weren't armed, and all of them said that Grump was the leader." Rae looked at the information she had on a pad in front of her. "Martin threw this backwards as he was grabbed, to give us some information I guess. He's pretty cool under pressure, isn't he?"

"Looks like he is gonna need to be.  Rae where's his gun?"

Rae pointed to the weapon, which was lying just outside the interview room door. "He made Martin drop it before they went in. I guess with a knife at his throat, he didn't have much choice."

Bob, I want you to access the files and find out whether he has a record, and any medical history you can find. Rae, you're with me." With that, Steve headed for the interview room. The rest of the rooms close by had been quietly evacuated and soon, apart from Martin and his captor, Rae and Steve were the only people there. They chose their vantage point in the hallway with care.

Steve made sure that they kept out of sight of the two men, but close enough to advance if the situation changed. He knew that he needed more than he had to go on before he could safely talk Martin out of that room alive. It was five minutes before Bob gestured to Rae who quietly moved back towards him.

Speaking in a voice that was no more than a whisper Bob let her know what he had found out as she took hurried notes. "Apparently, according to the files Grump has been arrested twice before for assault, but never with a weapon, which isn't to say he has never used one before, but normally he seems to just lash out. The information on those two cases say that he is anti-social and inadequate."

"Inadequate? That doesn't sound to me like the type of person who would be in charge of a group of animal rights activists. I suppose you must have the right guy. There can't be two Neville Grumps' surely."

"There were fifteen on the data base I used to find out his address! Apparently he also has a problem with authority, especially the police."

"Oh, this just doesn't smell right. Who would accept the leadership of an antisocial, police-hating inadequate on a raid that you knew would end up with you being arrested?" Rae's mind was working overtime. Something was very wrong here. She had the feeling that they were being played for fools. But in the current situation it wasn't a thought process she could follow. "Ok, Bob thanks. I'll go back to Steve, you need to stay available, just go through the double doors and wait there, ok?" Upon receiving a nod from Bob, Rae went back towards the interview room and knelt down beside Steve.

"This is wrong, Steve, it's very wrong, and I think it could be more dangerous than it looks. We have got to get Martin out of there." Quickly she filled her partner in on what Bob had found out. His face grew more serious with every word he heard.

Slowly Steve raised the megaphone to his mouth. He wasn't sure if he would need it. He put it back down, he didn't want to scare the guy, and he could always use it if he couldn't hear him. "Grump, this is Lieutenant Sloan, put the knife down and come out of the room."

"That's **Mr** Grump to you, pig." The voice from the interview room was shaky and high pitched. Rae had a feeling that that was not a good sign.

"Mr. Grump, put the knife down, and come out with your hands up." Rae realised that she should have her gun trained on the door of the room in case he tried to make a break for it. She shifted position slightly and took a steady aim. 

"I will only come out if you clear the way and let me leave, no charges, no guns, no nothing. Got it?"

Steve took a breath. At least now they had something to negotiate with. "I understand, you want to come out into a clear hallway, and be allowed to leave the station, with no charges, and no one with guns near you. I understand that. What will happen if I agree?"

"Well, if you don't, cop, he dies." With that Grump moved round so that they could see the knife pressed against Martin's throat. There was a trickle of blood running down towards his shirt, and his face had no colour left in it, but his shoulders were square, and he looked straight ahead. He would not give in to this man.

"If you let him go, maybe we can negotiate." Steve knew that he shouldn't make demands, but he wanted to get Martin out of there as quick as possible. He had scanned the notes that Rae had made, she was right, something was way off here, and he didn't like it, any more than she did.

He went to start talking again, but stopped short, as something happened in the room. As they both looked on, Martin moved one arm up and used the other one to elbow Grump in the stomach. In almost the same movement he grabbed the knife and pulled it away from his throat. It all happened in a split second and Grump was on the ground. Rae stood up and raced into the room, her gun drawn and for the second time that day she cuffed the activist and hauled him out of the room and in to the waiting arms of Steve.

She turned to Martin, who now had blood running heavily down his shirt. She yelled out of the door. "Bob, call an ambulance." She put her arm round his shoulder and guided him to a chair. He sat down without a word. "Martin, are you ok? That was an incredibly stupid thing to do, whatever possessed you?" 

Martin seemed to shudder and bring himself back to normality. Rae checked his throat, took a handful of paper tissues from the box on the windowsill and with her other hand pressed his fingers onto the wound to staunch the flow of blood. "This isn't too bad, you'll be fine. But my question still stands, what the hell were you doing?"

"I felt the pressure slacken on my throat. I knew that I was the only one who would be aware of that and I just did what I did. But thank you, Rae, for being there. I don't think I could have cuffed him." He put his hands out in front of him and Rae saw how violently his hands were shaking. "I'm sorry, I just can't seem to stop them."

"Hey, don't worry about it. I know what it's like." Rae smiled at him. As she started to talk again a medic came in through the door. She stood. "I will leave you in this young man's capable hands, Martin. Let me know the next time you are on duty." She turned, "Oh, and take care of yourself, huh?" She smiled at him and left the room.

Steve was upstairs in an interview room with Neville Grump and two armed guards on the door when Rae arrived. She tapped on the glass; Steve got up and left the room. Both guards then entered and glared at their prisoner. Rae guessed that his anti police feelings would have multiplied enormously by the time he got out of the station.

"Martin is being treated by the medics now. I think he'll have to go to Community General, if only to get a tetanus jab and a few stitches, God knows where else this knife has been." This time it was Rae who held up the weapon, which whilst not as nasty looking as the first one was more than adequate to have done the job of slitting somebody's throat with little or no problem. "Someone will have to have a word about searching suspects, this should never have been allowed to happen."

"Are you coming in to help conduct the interview? I could use a little assistance, if only to keep me from throttling him!" Steve looked over at her. He saw her nod and he re-entered the room with her. They didn't leave it again for just over three hours.

"And I wanted to help you with that for what reason?" Rae ran her fingers through her hair, and then flexed the fingers of her right hand.

"You ok, Rae?" Steve looked at her with concern in his eyes. He knew that she had had some problems with her hand since she had injured it a few months back when Phil Levington had filled her desk with glass.

"Yes, thanks. It just aches a bit by the end of a busy day, that's all." Rae looked at her watch. "Jesse will be wondering where I have got to, I said I would probably be home about six, it's almost eight already… What?" 

Steve had pulled a face. "He called, I said you would call back. That was about four hours ago! Sorry, Rae."

Rae gave him what she hoped was a withering glare, but knew was probably just a frown and picked up the phone. "Jess…Sorry, honey, I only just got the message…I'm leaving in a minute… Yeah, I'll go past Bob's and pick something up… I'll tell you when I get home…Bye." Rae picked up her jacket from the back of her chair, moved her cell phone from her jeans into the inside pocket and looked over at her partner. "Now, if there are no more jobs that you can't manage without me I will head home." She smiled as she said it, and Steve took no offence.

"I'm on my way to Bob's, it's my shift tonight. I'm as late as you are, Alex'll be tearing his hair out." 

They walked out of the station together. The parking lot was quiet now, and there was no evidence of the earlier invasion. Rae wandered over to where she had parked Tom and got in her car. She pulled out of the station and saw Steve pull in behind her. They drove in tandem the whole way to the restaurant, and then walked in together.

"Hey, Steve, Rae. How did the court case go today?" Alex looked over at them. He no longer carried the obvious scars of what Levington had done to him, and had already given his evidence. But Rae knew that it would be a long time before she would forget seeing his lifeless body lying in the lot outside Bob's, after he had pushed Jesse out of danger, by hurling himself into the path of an oncoming car.

"I'm finished now, thank goodness. Five days in that witness box was enough for me…"

"Sorry, Rae, the witness what?" Alex looked at her. "I guess that is what you call it in England, huh? Do you keep your witnesses in little boxes then?"

"No, it's an **open **box." Rae stuck her tongue out at him and carried on talking. "I shall be glad when I know he's behind bars. Right, change of subject; I need a takeout for two, Alex, please. You know what we normally have." She turned round to see Steve already serving a customer sitting in the back of the restaurant. She sat down and grabbed a mineral water. Fifteen minutes later she was back in Tom and heading for her apartment.

Jesse was waiting in the hallway when Rae turned the corner. "Hey, beautiful, I saw you get out of the car. Where do you want to eat, my place or yours?" He walked forward and took the box out of her hands.

"My place, if you don't mind. Much as I would like to leave you all the washing up, I am shattered, I could do with an early night." 

"Ok, that's fine by me, honey." Jesse put his hand on her arm. Their lives had been uneventful over the last couple of months, well uneventful for them that is. Rae had talked a girl attempting suicide out of jumping from the window of an apartment block in Van Nuys, arrested an eighty year old man who had murdered his forty year old girlfriend, and helped Steve arrange a police activity afternoon where she had persuaded her partner to take a turn in the dunking booth. Come to think of it, that was next weekend, and just to confuse things there was a fund raising ball for the hospital the same night. Jesse couldn't wait, he'd get to drown Steve and then escort Rae to their first joint dance. As for his life lately, well nothing out of the ordinary, although last week he'd had to deal with a three car pile up where a box of snakes had gotten loose and bitten four of the victims, two medics and a traffic cop. Yep, life had been uneventful.

They walked together to Rae's apartment and she opened the door. It had been completely re-furbished after Levington had trashed it. Now it was painted a pale gold colour and the furnishings were terracotta's and deep oranges. The landlord had been very sympathetic when he heard why she wanted to re-decorate, and had even said that he wouldn't expect her to put it back the way it was before she moved out. _Move out – I only have six and a half months left; I don't even want to think about that._

Jesse saw her face change, she suddenly looked very sad. "Rae, sweetheart, are you ok?" 

"I'm sorry, Jess, I was just thinking, I'm halfway through my time here, in six and a half months I have to go back to London… and I don't want to go." As she said it she knew that it was true. London wasn't home any more, Los Angeles was, or more to the point anywhere that Jesse was, that was home to her now. "I want to be with you, I miss my children, you know that, but they can visit me regularly and they will always be my kids.  I don't have custody of them anymore, so they don't live with me even when I am in London, but I can't bear the thought of being separated from you." She picked up the plates and cutlery that she had taken out of the cupboard and they moved into the living area. Jesse opened the box and started to help himself.

"There has to be a way for you to be able to stay, Rae, can't you ask to be transferred permanently? Or apply for citizenship, then you could become a proper cop."

"A proper cop, what do you think I do now? Make the tea and hold their tiny hands after a bad day on the streets!" Rae hadn't meant to shout, but it came out a little loud.

"Honey, I didn't mean it like it sounded. I meant that you could become a proper…Oh, not a police woman, but a cop." Jesse stopped; he knew he wasn't saying what he meant. Then he saw a smile cross her face.

"I know what you mean. Maybe. I will have to make some enquiries. Here and in London." She leant over and took her plate, and picked up a rib. It was a good job she wasn't vegetarian; they seemed to live on barbeque at the moment. Even eating together was a luxury, as their lives seemed to get busier by the day.

It was just after half past ten when Rae kissed Jesse goodbye at the door, and headed for the shower. She had been in there about five minutes when the phone rang. "Oh, great!" She got out, padded into the other room and picked up the handset. "Detective Yeager… Steve? I thought you were at the restaurant tonight…Oh, you're joking… Can't somebody else do it…? Or couldn't we do it in the morning…? Ok, I'll meet you there in about an hour… Bye." Rae put the phone down, growled at herself as she passed the mirror and almost in defiance got back in the shower, for just a few more minutes.

It was almost twenty minutes before she was back in her car and on her way to Worthington Laboratories. Steve was already parked there when she arrived. She got out of Tom and made her way over to him.

"You know even in the dark I could see your little red car as it made it's way down the hill towards us, I guess he's growing on me." 

"Don't flatter my car, Lieutenant! It won't make me any happier about being here. Unless somebody has been killed why are we standing in this parking lot instead of either working in a restaurant or, in my case, sleeping in bed?"

"We are here because somebody triggered the silent alarm in the main building. Martin is in the hospital, and we are the only other pair who have all the information about what went on today."

"Oh." Rae couldn't think of anything else to say, so she followed her partner as he entered the building, both of them showing their ID to the security guard as they passed.

"We got the call about ten minutes before I called you. File cabinets and computer discs have been broken into or removed." Steve checked his pad. "There should be a Miss Jo Walters somewhere around here."

"Ah, that would be me. Lieutenant Sloan?" A dark haired young woman emerged from the shadows. She was quietly spoken, with what might have been a southern accent and was about four inches taller than Rae.

Steve reached out to shake her hand, and smiled at her. "Yes, I'm Lieutenant Steve Sloan, and this is my partner, Detective Reagan Yeager."

Jo turned to Rae, "I've seen you in the papers haven't I, Detective?" She smiled as she said it, and Rae smiled back.

"For my sins, yes you have. I won't ask you which paper; I don't think I want to know. Uh, is there someplace we can go sit and talk to you privately?" Rae felt instantly at ease with Miss Walters, but had no desire to talk about her recent notoriety. 

"Sure, y'all come this way, an' we'll find someplace big enough for us all." Jo walked down the hallway, turning on a few lights as she went. "Should I have touched them?" She turned with a worried look.

"Were the lights on when you got here?" Steve stopped walking as he spoke. He saw her shake her head. "I guess it's ok then."

Miss Walters walked a little further on, then she stopped, took out a key and unlocked a door. After opening it she gestured for Steve and Rae to enter.

The room in front of them was large and stylishly furnished. The carpet was deep blue velvet and the furniture was a beautiful dark oak. There was a large table in the middle of the room with all the trappings of an executive boardroom.

"Sit wherever you want, folks. I'll just put some coffee on." 

Steve looked at Rae and they sat next to each other close to the entrance. "I feel like I'm here for an interview. Or a reprimand." He whispered to her and Rae giggled.

"Did you wipe your shoes before you came in and wear clean…? Sorry." She was surprised how alive she felt. Before Steve had called her she had been ready to hit the sack and not move a muscle until at least ten the next morning. Now she had a feeling that she would be lucky to get home again before then, and at the moment she wasn't at all bothered.

Jo Walters came back into the room and sat down opposite Rae. "What d'you want to know then, Detective Yeager?" 

Rae noticed that the young woman's hands were held in tight fists. "It's Rae, and this is Steve. Relax, Miss Walters, we only want to ask you some questions, not bring you up on charges."

"Sorry, I only came back to the office to get my cell phone which I left here earlier, it was such a shock to find somebody standin' over me with a gun in his hand." Her hands began to shake and Rae quickly got up and went to get her a drink. There was no tea, which she usually gave to people who were suffering from shock, so she made her a black coffee, and hoped that she wouldn't get too much of a caffeine rush.

As she re-entered the room she could hear Steve talking about nothing in particular to try to get her to calm down. "Here you go, Miss Walters, have a drink of this. We can wait until you have calmed down. It's not a problem, ok?"

Rae walked back up the room. She had seen a pile of brochures with Worthington Laboratories on the front cover as she had entered the room from the kitchen area. She picked two up, and headed back down to Steve.

"Do you mind if we have a look at these?" Rae spoke quietly to Jo as she passed. Receiving just a nod in return she sat back down and started to flick through the pages. There were photos of different laboratories within the building, the offices, with Jo at what Rae presumed was her desk, and a photo of a James Worthington sitting just about where Steve was now. On the next page there were photos of various types of animals, and their 'working conditions'. Rae couldn't think of another way to describe it. She wasn't sure how she felt about animal testing. She knew she was dead against it for cosmetic or frivolous items, but for medicinal purposes, she didn't know.

"Rae!" By the tone of his voice, Rae guessed that Steve had already called her name more than once.

"Sorry, I was miles away. Yes, I'm with you now!" Rae felt embarrassed; she looked over at Jo Walters and was relieved to see that she was smiling pleasantly. 

"Can you tell us what happened, Miss Walters? From the start, when you arrived outside the building." Steve took his pen out and wrote the date at the top of the page, and Jo started to talk.

"As I said, I only came back to get my 'phone, but I'm a key holder, so I knew it wouldn't be a problem. I turned the alarm off an' just headed straight for my desk. As I passed Mr. Worthington's office I heard a noise, or I thought I did. I went quietly towards the door, an' it opened. There was a guy standin' right in front of me, with a gun raised." This time she laughed when she mentioned him. "I don't know who was more scared! He sort of growled at me, an' just ran off." Rae had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing.  She had never talked to someone with such an accent before, and every time the woman said I, it came out Ah.  It reminded her of John's last trip to the dentist.  The poor child had had to have three teeth pulled because his jaws simply weren't big enough to hold them all, he had talked like that for about three hours!

"How come an alarm was triggered if you had turned them off?" It was Rae who spoke.

"The file cabinets an' computers are all linked to another circuit. You have to turn that off separately. I don't know how they bypassed the alarm to get in the first time, it was armed when I got here." Rae was chewing her tongue again.  File was fahl, bypassed was bahpassed, and time was tahm.  If she hadn't seemed so nice, Rae would have wondered if Miss Walters wasn't related to JR Ewing.  Finally, she decided she had to ask or die trying not to ask.

"I'm sorry, Miss Walters, but you wouldn't be from Texas by any chance, would you?"

The young woman sat up straighter and beamed.  "Yes, ma'am, I was born and raised on a little spread not far from Houston."

"How did you know that, Rae?" Steve looked across at his partner, whose eyes were sparkling.

"Oh, _Dallas_ was very popular in Britain."

Miss Walters folded her arms and leaned back in her chair.  She would have seemed angry if not for the glint of humour in her eyes.  "I wouldn't say that too loudly in Houston, if I were you."

Puzzled, Rae asked, "Why not?"

"Let's just say, in some circles, there is a strong rivalry between the two cities."

"Oh, I see," Rae said, though she really didn't, and she put it down to something only a Texan would understand.

"An' Detective Yeager, you wouldn't be from England now would you?"

"I wonder what gave that away." Rae smiled at her. 

"Oh, _Upstairs Downstairs_ was very popular in our house. Now," Miss Walters asked, "what else do y'all need to know?"

"What did you do, after he ran off, I mean." Steve looked at her, she had beautiful eyes, they were brown, with green rings round the edge. He looked away. _Concentrate, Sloan, for crying out loud. She's probably taken._

"Ok, first of all I turned to jelly, slid down the wall, an' just sat there for a few minutes. Then I sort of pulled myself together an' called you guys. I wanted to speak to Detective Robertson, but they said he was on sick leave. He sure seemed fine this mornin'." 

"He was injured later in the day."  At Miss Walters's concerned look, Rae hastened to add, "But I don't think it'll be too long before we turn this case back over to him." Rae smiled at her.  "So, do you know what was taken? Or will we have to wait for your boss to get in?" She checked her watch. It was now almost twenty past twelve, and she was beginning to run out of steam again.

"I can't get into the files, an' I've tried callin', but there's no answer on the home phone or Mr. Worthington's. I guess they must both be out of town. I know he is. He's holdin' a meetin' in Baja."

At that moment a young officer put his head around the door. "Lieutenant, could I speak to you please, sir?"

Steve turned to his partner. "Rae, would you mind?" She shook her head and left the room.

"Is Mr. Worthington due to be in the office in the morning, Miss Walters?"

"Steve, please call me Jo. I feel like my maiden aunt when you call me that, an' she's 93! Sorry what was the question?" 

Steve was delighted to see her blush. _Down, Sloan. You're working remember. _"Uh, the question, the question was… Um, oh, is your boss in the office tomorrow?" Now it was his turn to blush.

"Yep, Tuesday is the day he spends in the lab. He used to be a scientist, an' I guess it's his way of keepin' his hand in, as they say. He's never off on a Tuesday." She turned as she saw Rae come back into the room.

"Steve, I need a moment. Excuse us, Jo." Rae's face was worried and Steve didn't like the look she gave to their companion. He got up and left the room.

"We just got a call to attend a murder scene in the hills. The body of a Mrs Candi Worthington was found at her house about an hour ago. Dispatch, in a moment of rare enlightenment, joined the two cases together, and we just got lumbered with the whole thing, animal rights, murder and theft. Just what you need on a Monday night, I've arranged for the computer room and Worthington's office to be taped off until tomorrow." Rae ran both hands through her hair. She couldn't believe the amount of cases they had at the moment. Still if she worked things right, maybe they could get Martin to join with them, and deal with this as a trio.

"I guess we'd better get over there then. What are we going to do with Jo, er, I mean Miss Walters?" Steve looked at his partner, a frown spread across his face.

"Hey, down boy. You go back into the room. Terminate the interview, ask her to dinner at Bob's later on in the week, and I'll meet you by our cars in ten minutes, ok?" She turned with a smile on her face. Lucy didn't know what she was missing.

Steve had no idea that she'd realised he was interested in the young woman in more than a purely professional way. The thought cheered him considerably. What he couldn't tell Jo, however, didn't.

"Miss Walters, we have to leave to attend another call. Could you let me have the number for Mr. Worthington? His cell phone would be best, and a pager if he has one." Steve got his pen back out. After he had written the numbers down, he turned to Jo once again.

"Ah, I wondered, if you aren't doing anything, whether I could buy you dinner later in the week, maybe about eight on Thursday night? Anywhere you like, although I do part own a barbeque restaurant, BBQ Bob's."

"Do you try to pick up every woman you interview, Lieutenant, or do you just feel sorry for me?"

Steve was so embarrassed he just turned and left the room. He couldn't believe that she had blown him off like that.

Rae watched him storm across the parking lot, and she knew that he had just been hurt and possibly humiliated. "Steve?" she walked towards him. "Slow down, the woman's dead, a few more minutes won't matter." She put her hand on his shoulder, only to have it forcibly removed as he headed for his car.

"Brilliant suggestion of yours, Detective, can we go please?"

Rae's mind raced for a minute. "Hold on, Steve, I left my brochure in there, I think we might need it, I'm gonna go back for it." She turned and walked away before he could say anything, and was soon tapping on the boardroom door.

"What?" Jo's voice was quiet and distant.

"Can I come back in? I left my brochure here, and I would like to read up on your company, so that I can do a good job. Jo, are you all right? What's the matter?" 

The young woman was sitting in the same position as when Rae had left her. She had her head in her hands. "What? Oh, sure take whatever you want." 

"Jo, look at me." Rae's voice was soft, and she was relieved when the young lady turned and looked up at her. "What's the matter?" She couldn't believe that Steve would have told her where they were going.

"Your partner came on to me. I thought he was nice when he first came in, guess I was wrong." Her face was sad, but Rae could see anger in her eyes.

Jo's accent was stronger now that she was upset, and Rae found it a bit odd that her unfortunate misunderstanding with Steve would disturb her more than reliving the experience of nearly being shot.  She might ask about it later, but for now Rae filed the thought away, "He wouldn't do that, Jo. He is a nice guy, and honourable. If he asked you out, it was because he meant it, not because he does it to everybody he sees. Trust me." Rae smiled at her. "Would you like to re-consider?"

Jo nodded her head. "Maybe I read him wrong. But he won't be interested now. He asked me to his restaurant an' I lost it. I guess tonight affected me more than I thought."

"Look, I happen to know that he is working there tonight, from about nine, maybe you and I could go out for a bite to eat, what do you say?" 

"Are you sure you wouldn't mind?" Jo smiled up at Rae again, and breathed a sigh of relief. "That would be great. I'll meet you outside at about nine fifteen, ok?"

"Sure, now I have to go, are you certain you'll be all right? Can you get back home ok?"

"Yeah, my car is outside. I'm ok, really. I'll see ya tomorrow night, ah that would be tonight, wouldn't it? Thanks, Rae."

Rae raised a hand in acknowledgement and left the room. She had no intention of telling Steve what she had arranged, so when she got closer to the cars she changed her expression.

"Ok, Steve, let's go. I would imagine that even a corpse would be fed up with waiting by now." She got into her own car without another word and started it up. Steve, feeling fed up and bemused just followed along behind her.

The Worthington's lived in a large mock Tudor style mansion, which looked as if Sherlock Holmes would come out to greet them. Instead it was a very grey Detective Chapman who was waiting for them.

"Steve, Rae, I'm happy to hand this over to you. I haven't been to bed since Saturday afternoon. There is a housekeeper inside, she will tell you what has happened." With that, before either of them could ask him anything, he turned, walked down the drive, and out to his car.

"Well, I guess he is even more tired than we are. Ok, let's find the housekeeper." Rae hurried up the steps and into the house, nodding at the officer on duty on the door as she passed. Inside it was even more in keeping with the great detective than it was outside. Rae looked around. "You know I could move in here tomorrow, what a fabulous house." She saw a middle aged woman walking towards her, _and if she says her name is Mrs. Hudson, I will cease to believe in all reality._

"Good morning, Detective, my name is Mrs Barraclough, thank you for coming." The woman didn't look at all distressed, just businesslike and extremely efficient. Rae had a feeling that the discovery of a body in the house wouldn't mean any changes in her routine.

"Can you tell us what happened here, Mrs Barraclough?" Rae held out her hand as she talked and found it in a strong handshake.

"I heard a noise, just after eleven and came downstairs to see what was happening. As I got half way down I heard a crash and a scream and then nothing. I didn't go any further than the phone after that. I called 911 and just sat in that chair over by the door and waited for the police." There was no emotion in the woman's voice, and her face hadn't changed since she had started her tale.

"I see, well, if you could wait here for a few more minutes with this officer we'll just go and see what we have." As Steve turned to walk down the hallway he saw Amanda coming out of a room halfway down.

"Steve, Rae, I'm glad it's you. She's in here, but be warned, it's not pretty." She went back into the room and they followed. The room looked like a slaughter had taken place, which in a way it had. Mrs Worthington had been strung up by the neck, with a broom handle through the back of her top. Her arms were outstretched horizontally in line with her shoulders; she looked like a grotesque marionette. To complete the bizarre scene she'd had her throat and wrists cut. There was blood everywhere. Daubed on the wall, quite probably in her own blood were the words, 'How do you like it?'. 

Rae swallowed hard, and looking over she saw Steve do the same. "My God, Amanda, what kind of vicious animals would do such a thing?" A thought suddenly struck her. "With all this blood, she was alive when they did this to her wasn't she?" Amanda just nodded. "But Mrs Barraclough said that she heard a crash and a scream, not screaming, but **a** scream. Maybe she passed out before they started." But Rae knew that wasn't the case. The housekeeper had called the police as soon as she heard the noise. The scream would have been Mrs Worthington's last breath; she had known what happened to her.

Steve was watching his partner; he saw her try to suppress a shudder. "Rae, let's move out of here, and let Amanda finish up. We can come back later." He moved back and Rae went towards the door. As he reached the doorway, he motioned to the pathologist. "Amanda, are you gonna be alright in here?" 

"Thanks, Steve, yeah, I'll be alright. It's been a while since I had one this bad, but I'll manage. I'll come and get you when I've finished." She looked down at herself, her clothes were already covered with blood, and she knew that she would look worse before she finished.

"We'll come back to you, ok?" Steve was looking at her clothes too.

Rae had reached Mrs Barraclough before Steve had left the room. She waited until he caught her up. "Is she all right?" She saw him nod, and turned her attention back to the housekeeper. Rae knew that she couldn't possibly have looked inside the room. There was no way she could keep herself this cool if she had.

"Shall we find somewhere other than the hallway to have our little chat?" Rae looked over at her partner. "Maybe the kitchen?" She was relieved when the woman stood up and headed in the opposite direction to the murder scene.

Soon they were all sitting around a large kitchen table, with steaming cups of hot chocolate in front of them. Steve took his pad out, drew a line under the notes from Jo Walters, pushed down the feelings of humiliation that rushed to the surface, and turned to face Rae.

"Mrs Barraclough, do you know what made you wake up?" Steve had his pen poised over the paper.

"You know, I have no idea. All of a sudden I was just awake and I lay there for a few minutes, I wasn't really sure why I was conscious, so I listened as hard as I could, but I heard nothing. Then as I came down the stairs I heard the noise I mentioned and the scream. I didn't want to investigate; Mrs Worthington and I were the only two people in the house. Mr. Worthington is away on business overnight, and the maid and the cook only work days."

"How long had you been upstairs, Mrs Barraclough?" Rae felt her heart sinking, she had a feeling they weren't going to get much to help them on this.

"I retired to my room just after seven. Mr. Worthington was away, I don't care to watch television, so I decided to start the new novel I had bought at the weekend. 'I Promise' it's called, my daughter said it was wonderful."

"So when you came back down just after eleven you had been up there for over four hours." She was right, there was nothing here. The house could have been stripped clean in four hours, with no witness to help with what happened.

"Did you see anybody, or anything else that you need to mention to us?" Steve had written about six lines, not exactly enough to help solve a murder, not one like this anyway.

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't see anybody." She paused for a minute, and Rae got the impression that the seriousness of the situation had just hit her. "It is Mrs Worthington in there isn't it? The first officer here said that somebody had been killed, but he didn't say anything else.

"Yes, ma'am, it is Mrs Worthington, and she is dead I'm afraid. Is there anybody who you can stay with?" Rae put her hand over the elder woman's arm. "You can't remain here, this is now a murder scene. We need you to move out for a little while, and we need to get in touch with your boss."

The woman turned a pale shade of grey. "I will call my daughter, she lives in Venice Beach. I can stay there. It won't take me long to drive to her place." 

As the housekeeper finished talking Steve and Rae heard a car draw up towards the house. Rae got up and headed for the door. It had become an unwritten rule between them that Rae broke the news about bereavements and Steve asked the questions of murder suspects, at least to start with.

Rae reached the front hallway before Mr. Worthington; _I guess it's him that must be an old picture in the brochure_ opened the front door. 

"Who are you?" Mr. Worthington was a large, grey haired man, with a huge moustache, and his hair was brushed back off his face. 

Rae had her ID in her hand. "My name is Detective Reagan Yeager, and you are?"

"Worthington, James Worthington, what are you doing in my house, where is my wife, and Mrs Barraclough?"

"Mr. Worthington, we need to talk privately, could you follow me?" Rae led him to the room next to the one where Steve and the housekeeper were sitting. It was a parlour like room, with comfortable furniture in it. "This will be fine, please sit down, Mr. Worthington."

"I will, it is my house after all. Now, would you please tell me what is going on?"

Rae knew that he would not appreciate her prevaricating so she got down to the matter at hand straight away. Her voice was soft but businesslike. "Mr. Worthington, I'm afraid that your wife was killed while you were away. We'll need to take a statement from you, and get you to identify the body as soon as you are ready, but right now, I just want to make sure that you have somebody to stay with you. Your housekeeper is going to stay with her daughter. Is there somewhere you can go?"

"Yes, I expect so. How did she die, Detective, can I see her?" 

Rae could see tears threatening to overflow from the big man's eyes. She had calculated that he was about twenty years older than his wife, but he had obviously loved her. 

"No, Mr. Worthington, not yet. There are procedures that have to be followed. I am sure that by later on today, or maybe tomorrow we can arrange that for you."

"I have been in Baja since mid afternoon. I had a meeting just outside Ensenada with a supplier. After what happened this morning I decided to visit him instead of the other way round. Oh, God, if I hadn't changed my arrangements I would have been here. Oh, Candi, honey, I'm so sorry." The man collapsed in tears and Rae moved over and put her arms around his heaving shoulders. As she did so she saw the door open, and Mrs Barraclough came in. 

"I can handle this, Detective, I have looked after Mr. Worthington for twenty-five years. I'll take him with me to my daughter's house, and keep him there for as long as you need this house to be cordoned off." She handed a piece of paper to Rae with a telephone number on it and then moved over to her employer. Rae was suddenly embarrassed and felt she was intruding, so she quietly left the room.

Steve was waiting for her in the hallway. "Let's go and see how Amanda is getting on. She must still be here, she would have got somebody to tell us if she was leaving." They walked down the hallway together, neither of them really wanting to go back into the room containing the body. They could hear Mr. Worthington's sobs gradually calming as they walked away from him.

Amanda was just finishing up as they entered the room. The body had been taken down and was lying, uncovered on a gurney. The ropes and broom handle were lying in an evidence bag and on the gurney, respectively. "I thought you would just want to have a closer look before I remove her. I would say that she might have been conscious throughout her ordeal until a few minutes before her death. But I can't be sure. She died from massive blood loss by the look of it. I will know for certain later today. The blade used was serrated and hasn't been found yet. That's it, guys, I have nothing else now. Amanda looked tired and drawn. She took a deep breath, looked at her two friends and then began to talk once more. "It was a horrible way to die. I'm not sure how her family will react. I know I would be devastated." She shuddered and headed towards the door. The medic behind her zipped up the body bag and began to follow her. "Oh, pictures have been taken of the wall and the body as it was found. I'll see you later."

Steve looked over at Rae and they began to look around the room. Rae pulled on a pair of latex gloves and went to work. The room was obviously an office. There was a computer in the corner, but from what she could see no discs. There was a holder but it was empty. "Looks like they took the computer discs again."  In a tray by the edge of the desk there appeared to be a pile of paperwork, although most of it was covered with blood. Rae sighed, got an evidence bag out of her pocket and carefully put the saturated papers into it. This was going to be a messy, distressing case. Whoever had carried this out obviously had no conscience.  

Steve opened one of the drawers in the desk, he didn't really expect to find very much, he had a feeling that the perpetrators of this crime had had plenty of time to look for whatever it was they wanted. Mrs Barraclough had been upstairs for four hours, which was more than enough time to trash this room and then put it back neat and tidy if the murder or murderers had felt like it. As he moved around to the other side of the desk he saw something glinting on the carpet. He knelt down and picked it up.

"Rae, what do you make of this?" Steve had a small badge in his hand. The picture on the front of it was of a rabbit's face superimposed over a drop of red blood. "I think this may prove valuable. Did any of our visitors to the station yesterday have one of these?"

"I didn't see one, but I would say that it looks like the type of thing that would appeal to the animal rights movement." She held open a bag and Steve dropped it in. 

They didn't find anything else of value in the room, although they searched it for almost two hours. Mrs Barraclough and Mr. Worthington had left about twenty minutes after they had started their search. It was just after ten to four in the morning, and Rae felt that she could sleep anywhere, even in this awful room, if she didn't get to her bed before too much longer.

"Steve, can we call it a night? I can't think anymore, I need my bed. We're supposed to be starting again at eleven, that's only seven hours away, and we haven't slept since Sunday." She yawned as she finished her sentence and gave a lop sided grin at the end of it.

"Yeah, come on, we aren't going to do any more good here. Let's go home and I'll see you at the station at about lunchtime. I have to be at Bob's by nine, but we should get a full day at this. I'll just let the officer at the door know we're going and we can call it quits until later."

Steve stretched his aching muscles, shut the office door behind him, and then with his arm on Rae's back he walked towards the door. 

Rae smiled at him. She was so tired that she wasn't sure how she was going to get home, but a loud cd, and all the windows open would probably do the trick. She hoped that it would be safe to do that, at least for a little way, because she didn't want to fall asleep at the wheel. After about ten minutes Rae was so cold she had to stop and put her coat on, and shut all the windows. Still, now she was awake, at least for a few minutes. She must have been on autopilot, because before she knew it she was drawing up to her apartment building and staggering up the steps.

It was just after ten the next morning before Rae woke up. She had somehow managed to drag herself through the shower the night before _this morning, I went to bed and got up the same morning, uugh_ and then she had fallen asleep almost as soon as she hit the pillow. Her dreams had been muddled, mixtures of the case, Jesse and her eating takeout in the murder room and Steve driving around in Tom, because it was growing on him. She tried to remember more about the dream, but thankfully these days her dreams disappeared as soon as she woke. 

Rae opened the blind in the bedroom, saw a perfect blue sky out of the window and headed for the bathroom. Once she was dressed and eating her breakfast she picked up the phone and rang the station. "Lieutenant Sloan, please." She knew he would already be there, she had yet to beat him in. 

"Sloan here…Oh, hi, Rae… About fifty-five minutes… No, nothing yet, I was going to wait for you and then head over there…Oh, right. I'll see you there then." Steve put the phone down and started towards the door. He almost made it.

"Sloan, my office, if you would be so kind." The Chief's voice floated out across the squad room and Steve's heart sank. He knew he was in trouble if the Chief was being nice.

"Sir, what can I do for you?" Steve stepped inside the lion's den and closed the door after him. He didn't think they had missed anything last night, and following the activities at the station the day before he had made sure that a brief outline of everything that had happened had been on the Chief's desk a half hour ago.

"I want you to concentrate on this animal rights case above everything else, Lieutenant. James Worthington is a good friend of mine, and I have assured him that the LAPD will work tirelessly on his behalf. Don't let me down."

"No, Sir, we won't. I'm just off to Community General to get the autopsy report from Dr. Bentley and then Rae and I will be going to interview Mr. Worthington. We thought it best to leave it last night." _Great, just what we need a personal friend of the Chief of Police._ Steve stood. "If I may be excused, Sir?"

"In a moment, Lieutenant. There will be no special treatment, I have told Mr. Worthington that I will make sure that two of my best officers will be on the case. That is where my involvement will cease. I would appreciate it if you could make your files available to me, but I have no intention of interfering. However, I would suggest that there be no running off on wild hunches. You and Detective Yeager will do everything by the book, especially Detective Yeager. Is that understood?"

Steve thought for a moment. He knew his boss was a fair man, and would give them every opportunity to do their jobs the way they always did. However, he wasn't sure if the Chief would be able to keep completely away from it, he had a feeling he wouldn't if he was in his shoes. Then a thought struck him, the Chief liked Rae, he would send everything through her. Feeling much better, Steve stood. "I understand, Sir. We won't disappoint you." Then he paused. There was never any point in saying too much to the Chief, he was blunt and to the point, and you had to be too. Steve waited, as the Chief let his face relax just a bit. 

"Good, you are dismissed then, Lieutenant."

He got in his car and headed for Community General. Every time he had been personally involved in a case with the Chief things happened to him. He had nearly died after infiltrating the Ganza crime family, and almost lost his job when a local politician had tried to bring down the hierarchy of the department, with a lot of help from his then Captain and a crooked cop. _Stop it. Let it be. You will be fine, if you can keep Rae on a tight leash!_ _Oh that makes me feel so much better, I've got to stop thinking._ Steve pulled into Community General's doctor's parking lot and headed for the ER. As he exited the elevator he saw Rae and Jesse chatting together in a corner. He smiled and walked towards them, as he got nearer he could hear them talking.

"Jo was really upset. But I have sorted things out for toni… But I can ring her later and apologise." Rae hastily changed the subject as she saw Steve come towards her, but Jesse had his back to him and was completely confused.

"What? Who, Jo?" she had a problem not laughing at Jesse. His face was a picture as he stuttered out his words.

"My sister, that's right… Josie!" Rae was desperately gesticulating with her hands.

"Your sister is called Hazel…commonly known as Josie." Jesse suddenly realised that he was missing something and turned round. "Hey, Steve."

"Jo? Are you talking about Miss Walters?" Steve was instantly on the defensive. Rae glared at Jesse and turned from him. _Men!_

"No, Steve, my sister, she has decided to go by the name of Josie – mid life crisis if you ask me, now can we get on? I guess Amanda is waiting." With that she walked away from Steve and for once he was forced to chase after her. 

Amanda looked up as the two detectives entered her lab. She looked tired and saddened. Rae wasn't surprised. 

"Hi, Amanda, are you ok? I'm sorry we have to go through all this now." Rae didn't quite know what to say, but she felt she ought to say something. Amanda was usually so detached about her cases, but they had all been sickened by what they had seen last night.

"Ok." She was immediately businesslike.  "She died of a combination of shock and massive blood loss. The wounds were made with a serrated edged knife, which is apparent if you look at the marks left on the flesh." Amanda stopped talking and looked up. "Like when you carve a chicken. It's not so noticeable on human flesh but there are signs. Also there were marks left on the bones in both wrists." She stopped. She didn't need to say anymore, they had all seen the hands practically hanging off the previous evening.

"How long had she been dead when you got there?" Steve was making notes, Rae walked over to him.

"Since when have you taken so many notes at an autopsy carried out by Amanda? You know you'll get everything you need in her report." 

"Don't ask. I'll tell you later. Let's just say that it concerns the Chief." 

"Hardly anytime at all." Amanda continued as if they hadn't spoken.  "She was still warm when we arrived. I would say no more than about an hour, tops."

Somehow that made it even worse, and Rae felt instantly discouraged, although she had no idea why. She turned back to the body on the table and for the first time took a good look at the dead woman's face.

Candi Worthington had been in her late thirties, she was blonde, natural by the colour of her eyebrows, _but then you can dye anything these days_. She had a small, pretty face, not a trophy wife, but loved if last night's emotions had been anything to go on.

Rae shuddered. She didn't want to ask the next question, and she hoped Amanda wouldn't be able to answer it. "Is there any way to know if she was conscious when all of this happened?"

"No, not really, but going by experience, I would say that she may have passed out through pure fear…" Amanda paused, and Rae had to strain to hear her next few words. "At least I hope she did."

"Ok, Amanda, thanks. I want as much detail as you can get on this one, as quickly as you can get it. Was the writing on the wall done in her blood?" 

Amanda shook her head. "No, it was animal blood, probably from a slaughter house, from a cow."

"Are you sure?" Rae stopped. "Yes, of course, you are. Sorry. But why would animal rights activists use animal blood? Something else to worry about I guess? Thanks Amanda.

"Rae, come on, we don't have time to chat." With that Steve was gone.

"Well, I guess I'm going too. Apparently, I don't have time to chat!"

"RAE! Come on."

"OK! Bye, Amanda, I'll see you soon, if I live that long." Rae hurried towards the elevator, where she could see Steve holding the door open with an impatient look on his face.

Steve moved inside the elevator and Rae hurried in beside him. They travelled down in silence, and nothing was said until they got to their cars. As Steve went to press the button to unlock his car, Rae took the device out of his hand. "Ok, hold up. I have no intention of spending today with you if you are gonna be like a bear with a sore head. What's wrong? And I don't want any excuses, I want the truth now, or I'm going home."

"Just get in the car, Rae. I don't have time to stand and talk." All of a sudden Steve was furious. He knew that Rae had been telling Jesse how Jo had blown him off.  "And another thing, my private life is my own affair, it is not open for discussion between you and Jesse. Just because you are Mr and Mrs Perfect Couple does not give you the right to examine my less than wonderful existence, you can butt out." He snatched the remote control back, and opened his car.

"Have you finished with your hissy fit? Maybe you could stamp your foot a little too. Just to complete the image of a spoilt child!" Rae felt her temper rise as she spoke to him. 

Steve climbed into the car without another word and before Rae could do anything had screeched out of the parking lot.

Rae sighed, got into Tom and followed along behind. She had no intention of catching him up, she knew he didn't lose his temper with her very often, but she had been here long enough to know to keep her distance for a while when he did.


	2. Chapter 2 The Purrfect Evening

The Purrfect Evening 

Rae stopped at a deli on the way back to the station and got herself and Steve some lunch. As she walked in through the door she thought about Martin. He had been so kind to her when she was in the hospital, both times. She walked over to the desk sergeant. "Bob, do you have a telephone number of a florist so that I can send a plant to Martin?"

The desk sergeant looked at her a little strangely, but pulled out a file from under the desk. "Sure, but you don't normally send flowers to men." He sighed, "Must be a British thing!" 

Rae stuck her tongue out at him, and he stared. She realised that it was probably the first time he had seen her do that. "He likes to grow plants, so I thought that I would send him one, an unusual one preferably!" She took a note of the number that Bob showed her and carried on towards the stairs.

Steve sat at his desk with his head in his hands. He knew he should talk to Rae, but he felt such a fool. He had no right to take out his problems on her, and if he told her that he knew she would agree with him. He jumped as a brown bag was put down in front of him.

"Ham salad on rye, I hope that will do you. We don't have so many choices of fillings and types of bread in London." Rae smiled at him. She couldn't hold a bad mood for long. "Hey, partner, look at me. What's up?"

"Nothing, I'm sorry I was a grump."

"Hey, I thought we booked him!"

Steve smiled and continued. "I had no right to take my temper out on you, I know that."

"Good, don't do it again!" Rae had her hand over his, she squeezed it gently and let go.

"After you left Bob's last night I saw Lucy." He stopped, feeling a little foolish.

"And… There must be more to it than that, you said you hadn't been together long. She was hardly the love of your life." Rae waited.

"She was with somebody else! I know she only came into Bob's to rub my nose in it. She was all over him like a rash!"

"Oh, Steve, I'm so sorry. Listen; there are two things to remember. One, the girl obviously doesn't know what she just passed up, and two, if she can behave like that then you are well shot of her. Now eat up, we have to go interview Mr. Worthington."

Rae sat down and took a salad roll out of her brown bag.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Worthington, I have to talk to you about him." As they ate Steve filled her in on everything that the Chief had said. Including the bit about her doing her job by the book, which got a reaction, just as he had known it would.

"By the book, by the book? For goodness sake, how am I supposed to work by the book when so far I've been strangled by a deranged schoolteacher, and stalked by the kook of the year? I also have to contend with the fact that I am partner to a cop who takes a police consultant, a medical examiner and a doctor along on his cases! What chance do I have to work by the book? Rae stood up, stuck her tongue out at Steve and brushed the crumbs off her sweatshirt and jeans then she reached into her desk and took out a new pad, picked up her purse and turned to Steve. "So, are you ready, Lieutenant? I think we have work to do."

"Hold on a minute. I haven't finished my lunch, and I have to ring first to make sure it is convenient to see him. You could check with … ah Miss Walters to find out where he was last night, and then call them." 

Rae said nothing; she picked up the phone on her desk, checked the number on her pad and dialled.

"This is Worthington Laboratories. I'm sorry but due to unforeseen circumstances, the offices are closed today. Please try again later."

Rae heard Jo's voice as it played in her ear. She checked the pad again, and found her home number. "Hello… Is that Miss Walters…? This is Detective Yeager… Yes, it's me, hi, Jo, are you all right?"

Jo had been sitting on the sofa in her lounge almost all morning. She hadn't known Mrs Worthington well, she only saw her at the Christmas party, but she liked Mr. Worthington, and felt incredibly sad for him. Her thoughts were broken by the ringing of the phone. "Hello…? Yep…Rae, is that you…? No, not really. Mr. Worthington phoned to tell me about his wife and that he was gonna shut the office. I went in, checked the mail and put a message on the answerin' machine, then I came back. Now I am just sittin' here, thinkin' and wonderin'. What can I do for you, Rae…? I think it was the Las Rosas…why…Oh, I guess you do… Yep, I'm still plannin' on meetin' you at nine fifteen… Bye."

Rae went across the room and picked up the phone book. Once she had got all the information she needed from the reservation clerk she turned back to her partner. "He was there, Steve, there is no way he could be involved." She breathed a sigh of relief. The thought of anybody doing what they had done to Mrs Worthington was almost unthinkable, but for a husband to do it to a wife. She shuddered. "Nor Jo for that matter. She couldn't have surprised the thief and murdered Candi, she didn't have time. I guess we'd better get going then, huh? Did you get a hold of him?"

"Yes, he's still at Mrs Barraclough's daughter's house, so we'll have to interview him there. Come on, I get the feeling you don't want to do this any more than I do." They left the room together and headed for the parking lot. Rae walked over to Steve's blue car, she ran her fingers through her hair and wished she could sleep for a week.

As they started to get into the car Steve saw Bob come running out of the station. He straightened back up and walked over to him. Rae saw them deep in conversation. 

Steve listened intently to what Bob was saying before turning and walking back to his car after thanking him for catching them. He took a deep breath as he shut his door. "The jury just came back, Rae."

She felt her heart shoot up into her throat. She didn't need to ask what jury, in her mind there was only one. Uncertain whether or not her voice would work she turned to him, "and…?"

"He got twenty years." Steve said nothing else. He watched as Rae's eyes filled with tears that spilled over and ran down her cheeks.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Steve." Rae tried to brush the tears away. "Do you think you could see Worthington on your own? I … I need to go see Jesse." Rae looked down, her hands were shaking. It hadn't occurred to her that the verdict would be back so soon. Levington had been charming and perfectly believable on the witness stand, as he had described how Rae's actions were those of a woman infatuated with him, not the other way around. She knew he was guilty, but she couldn't be certain that the jury had felt the same. Now it was obvious that they did.

"It was unanimous, Rae. Now it really is over." Steve turned slightly and put his arms out and they hugged tightly.

"Thank you, Steve, I couldn't have gotten through it without you, your dad, Amanda and of course, Jess." She relaxed into his chest and let her breathing become deep and even. The feeling of relief was almost overwhelming, and she fought to regain her normal composure. Slowly she moved back from him and smiled. "How about a meal at Bob's tomorrow night, my treat? I know you're working tonight, but it would be nice if we could all meet up there to celebrate."

"Ok, yeah, tomorrow is fine by me. Now, go and see Jess, I'll interview Worthington, and when I'm finished I'll call you and you can come back, ok?" Steve looked at her, he could tell that underneath all her tumultuous emotions she was delighted, so was he. He watched as she undid her seatbelt and got out of the car. Then he waved and headed off towards Venice Beach.

Rae got into Tom and drove to Community General. It was just after two in the afternoon and she felt wonderful. She pulled into an empty space next to Jesse's car and headed for the elevator. 

Jesse was sitting on a chair in reception trying to read some of the notes left by Dr. Collins before he headed off to Europe for a month. _Doctor's handwriting, jeez!_ He heard the bell ping as the elevator doors opened, and looked up to see Rae come bounding out. "Hey, honey, what are you doing here? I didn't expect to see you until tonight. Are you ok?" Jesse walked over to her. He could see tears in her eyes, and knew she was having trouble keeping her emotions in check. "Let's go to the Doctor's Lounge, come on." He took her by the hand and they walked down the hallway.

As soon as the door was shut Rae started to talk. "Oh, Jess, it's over, it's all over. He got twenty years. Twenty years!" She stopped talking, and taking a step closer found Jesse in her arms. 

Jesse could feel the blood pounding in his head. He grabbed at Rae as the room started to swim. The next thing he knew he was on the sofa with his head down and he could hear Rae's concerned voice floating somewhere above him.

"Jess, darling, it's all right, just sit a while. You'll be fine."

He tried to move and felt her hand on his shoulder.

"No, keep your head down just for a minute. I sent for Mark, he'll be here real soon." Rae sat down next to Jesse and he leant against her. She could kick herself. In her excitement she had given him no warning of what she was going to say, and he had suffered physically more than anyone at the hands of Philip Levington. She shuddered as she remembered him chained to a radiator at Levington's store. He had nearly died; she should have considered his feelings. She looked up as the door opened and Mark rushed in.

"Rae, what happened, is Jess all right?" He moved over to his young friend and started to take his pulse.

"I had some news to tell him, Mark, but I did it all wrong and the shock was too much for him." Rae looked at the two men in front of her, Jesse with his head resting on his knees and Mark kindly and concerned.

"What sort of news? Rae, you're not?"

"Not what …? Good grief, Mark, no! Whoah, I'd be the one flat out if that were the case. No. It's Levington, the jury returned a verdict."

Mark smiled, "Twenty years, I'll bet."

Rae smiled back, "I never could get anything past you, could I? Yes, exactly right, twenty years. But I didn't think of what he had done to Jess, it was just too much. Are you all right now, honey?" She looked down as she saw him begin to move.

"Yeah, it was just a bit of a shock. I didn't think it would happen that fast. I guess they believed us then, huh? Chalk another one up for the good guys." Jesse had his colour back now, and was enjoying the news as much as Mark and Rae. His face was split by a huge smile, and he stood, slowly, and put his arms out to Rae. She moved into them and felt herself being enveloped by all the love and commitment she could ever need.

Mark looked at them both and smiled. They had been through so much together in such a short space of time, but they had survived. He was delighted to see Jesse so happy with Rae, _now if only Steve… _he let the thought hang.

Rae pulled away from Jesse and turned to the older doctor. "We're gonna celebrate tomorrow night at Bob's, you will be able to come won't you?" She was relieved to see him nod.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, sweetie. Did you ask Amanda and Alex yet? Oh, and don't forget Jan." Mark was getting caught up in the emotion himself now.

"I'm going to go and see Amanda in a minute, and I'll call Jan later. If you spot Alex could you tell him? Eight o'clock tomorrow night then?" 

Mark nodded and headed for the door, he turned to speak as he got there, but Jesse and Rae were already lost in each other, and he had a feeling that neither of them knew that he had even left.

Steve headed towards the address in Venice Beach with his mind on Levington instead of Worthington. The relief was almost overpowering. He had nearly lost his best friend, and Rae as well, it had been lucky she was as strong as she was. Not for the first time he wondered how Cheryl was getting on in London. From her e-mails she was having a great time and thankfully it hadn't been as traumatic as Rae's time here. As he got nearer to the address he gave himself a mental shake and began to go over what they knew so far, _which is precious little!_

Candi Worthington had been thirty-eight and married to James Worthington for twenty years. She had been his secretary when he had worked as a scientist for a large pharmaceutical corporation, and when he had started his own business she had left the company and married him. They had no children, for which Steve was extremely grateful. The way she had died was almost beyond belief and explaining that to a child would be impossible.

By the time these thoughts had run through his head he was pulling up outside a small neat detached house with pale blue shutters and a large butterfly attached to the wall. He walked up to the door and rang the bell. There was silence. For a minute he wondered whether he had the wrong house, and then he heard a throat being cleared behind him.

"May I help you?"

A small blonde woman in her early thirties was standing behind Steve. He turned and taking out his ID began to speak. "I'm Lieutenant Steve Sloan, LAPD, I believe I'm expected, Ms…?

"Foster, Mrs Foster, and yes, Lieutenant, you are expected. We are all in the garden, won't you come through?"

Steve followed the young woman through the garage and into a small neat garden, which had children's play equipment in one half of it, and garden furniture in the other. Mrs Barraclough and Mr. Worthington were sitting under a large willow tree, and it was clear that both of them had been crying. Steve took a deep breath and moved over to them.

"Mr. Worthington, Mrs Barraclough, I'm sorry to intrude on your grief, but I really do need to speak to you, Sir."

"Certainly, Lieutenant, I understand that. I spoke to your Chief this morning, and he said that you and… er, Detective Yeager… were his two best officers. Good man, Masters, good man. Ah, where is Detective Yeager, Lieutenant?"

"She had to finish up some business on a previous case, Sir, but you can rest assured that we will be working on this case together, to the very best of our ability. Is there somewhere private that we could go to talk do you think?" Steve looked around, he didn't want to conduct his interview in the garden, it was a bit too open for him.

Mrs Foster stood up and smiled. "If you would like to follow me, James, Lieutenant, you can use the breakfast room." 

A couple of minutes later they entered a fresh and bright pale lemon room, which was furnished entirely in blue. "Can I get either of you a drink? Coffee, soda?" Seeing both men shake their heads she quietly left the room, and went back to offer some solace to her mother.

"Now, Lieutenant, what can I tell you? You'll have to excuse me if I get a bit emotional, but we had been together a long time, and I loved my wife very much."

Steve suddenly liked this big brusque man, and could see why he would get on well with the Chief. "Some of the things I have to ask may be painful for you, Mr. Worthington, but you can be assured that I won't ask anything that I don't think is absolutely necessary."

"I understand that. But first of all, Lieutenant, can you tell me when I will be able to go and formally identify her."

Steve thought for a minute. "I can take you back with me, Sir, if you would like."

Mr. Worthington nodded. "It's James, call me James."

Steve held his hand out. "Steve. Ok, Mr…James. Have you been given any details about how your wife died?" 

"No, I know that she was killed, but nothing more than that."  Steve could see that James Worthington was trying very hard to keep his emotions in check.

"I see," Steve decided to leave that. He had a feeling that he wouldn't get any more information from Mr. Worthington if he knew the details of his wife's death immediately. "Did she have any enemies that you would know of, James?"

There was silence and Steve watched as the man in front of him tried to put his muddled thoughts into order. "No, no, I don't think so. Any enemies would be mine, Lieutenant."

"Yours, Sir, why?"

"Because of my line of business. We are an animal research laboratory. It is a field of experimentation that most people have very strong views about. Whether they are for it or against it. I will not undertake research for cosmetic companies, or for anything that I think is dubious, but for medical research I feel that the service we offer is invaluable."

Steve looked at this man, who had just lost his wife, and had to accept the fact that his job most probably had been the cause of that. "I have to say, James, that I share your feelings. I think that the same people probably carried out the attack on your wife and your laboratory. I have officers back at the station checking the alibi's of the men who were arrested at your lab yesterday, we don't have that much information on them yet, but we're working on it. I can offer you protection until this is over, Sir, it would be no problem to arrange."

"No, thank you, Lieutenant. You have far more important things to use your resources on than me." He stopped talking and took a deep breath. "I wonder how they would feel about it if they had a loved one who was suffering from a serious and possibly fatal disease and they were saved because of drugs that'd had their safety proven during clinical trials on animals."

Steve decided not to answer that. Although he knew how he felt, this wasn't the time or the place for that kind of discussion. "Is your home address public knowledge, James, or your daily routine, for that matter?"

"We are a public company so the details of myself and my board are available. My address isn't there, but if somebody were determined I imagine they could find out. As for my daily routine, I finish work every night at six, I wouldn't think to check if I was being followed, so it wouldn't have been hard to find out where I live. As for my schedule yesterday, well, until mid morning even I didn't know I would be going to Baja."

"Does your house have an alarm system?"

"Of course, young man, what do you take me for? Nobody lives in Los Angeles and doesn't have an alarm."

_Wanna bet! _"No, Sir, I guess not. Did your wife or your housekeeper have any plans to go out last night, or have guests in?"

"No, no, not that I know of, as I said before, I had planned to be home myself last night." This time the realisation that he had left his wife alone to meet her death was too much for James Worthington, and he reached into his pocket for a large white handkerchief and hid his face in it.

Steve used the time to go over what he had written already and make sure that it was legible and of use. Then he sat quietly and waited. He watched as the big man gradually pulled himself together and braced himself to ask some difficult questions.

"Did your wife, to your knowledge, ever have an affair, or a liaison with anyone?" Steve hated these questions. Sometimes it didn't bother him at all, but today he wished he didn't have to ask.

"No, no. Not that I knew of. We were happy together. I thought that when I retired next year we would spend the rest of our lives together." He sniffed loudly and looked over at Steve. "How did she die, Lieutenant?"

Steve took a deep breath. "She had her throat and wrists cut, Mr. Worthington, I think that her murderers were trying to make a point." Realising that he had already said more than he should have Steve stopped talking.

"Make a point?" James Worthington asked. Steve sat silently, hoping the distraught man would let it pass, but James would not let it be. "Detective, just what point were they trying to make?"

Mentally cursing himself for his rambling, _I sound like Jesse!_ Steve decided his only option was to tell Mr. Worthington the truth. "Before she was killed they put a broom handle through the sleeves of her top and suspended her from a hook placed in the ceiling." He stopped talking.  There was nothing else he could say.

James Worthington had turned grey. He sat trying to control his anger, and emotion. "I want to see her, now. And I want to know when her body can be released for burial."

"We can sort all those things out once we get to Community General. Would you like me to drive you, or do you have somebody else you would prefer do it?"

"I think that I would like Mrs Barraclough to come with me. Then we can come back together, we won't be causing you any more problems than we have to."

Steve smiled. "It's no problem, Sir, but if that is what you prefer then that's what we'll do. If you'd like to go and get ready, I'll call my partner and arrange to meet with her there."

James Worthington left the room and Steve took his cell phone out of his pocket. He punched in the number for Rae's phone and waited…

Rae and Jesse had walked hand in hand down to Amanda's path lab to tell her the good news. Then they had decided to visit with Martin Robertson for a little while. They were talking to him when… 

"Detective Yeager…Oh, hi, Steve…No, I'm still here…Ok, I'll meet with you in a little while. I'm in with Martin at the moment…Yeah, bye." She shut her phone.

"Steve is coming in with Mr. Worthington, he'll be about twenty minutes. So in a while we'll head back down to Amanda. Do you know when they will let you out Martin?"

"Yes, tomorrow afternoon. Then I have to stay home until the stitches come out, next Monday."

"Do you want any books, or anything, I have accumulated quite a few now and I would be happy to share." Rae turned to see the vibrantly coloured plant that the florists had sent. It was a brilliant green, and had a blue middle. She had no idea what it was, but she liked it.

Martin saw her admiring his plant. "I did thank you for that didn't I, Rae? It's a glorious colour."

"Do you know what it is?" Rae looked to see if it had a care label on it, it didn't.

"Not a clue. But I'll look it up when I get home." 

"You could use the time to tend to your garden couldn't you?"

"I might. I haven't had any time off for a while, so I may take you up on the book reading. I like anything as long as it isn't love or mush!" 

"You won't find any of that. I like mysteries, and history. I'll get some sorted out for you and get Jesse to bring them in for you in the morning, ok?" Rae got up and headed for the door. "Take care of yourself, Martin. I'm sorry you won't be able to come tomorrow night, I owe you a beer and some ribs some time." 

Jesse took her hand and they left the room. As they walked down the hallway Rae tried to bring her thoughts back to her current case. Jesse was going to come along with her; neither of them knew how Mr. Worthington would react to the sight of his wife's body.

Amanda was busy with the aftermath of a shooting in a convenience store, so Jesse and Rae waited outside in the hallway and sat quietly. They were both quite content with each other's company. They'd had an incredible ride together since Rae had come to Los Angeles. Now that Levington was in jail they could concentrate on being together and enjoy the time that she had left here. Neither of them spoke but they didn't need to.

Steve strode down the hallway, James Worthington was walking like a man possessed. His emotion was coming out in his actions, and in the end Steve put his hand on his shoulder. "Mr. Worthington, Mrs Barraclough can't keep up, Sir." He stopped and waited and the distraught man slowed his step. "Moira, I am so sorry. I didn't realise." He put his hand out and his housekeeper took it. "Let's walk together." 

Rae saw them as they turned the corner and stood up. She moved towards the three people her hand outstretched. "Mrs Barraclough, Mr. Worthington, this is Doctor Jesse Travis."

Jesse smiled slightly at the group of people before him. "Would you like to follow me, Sir?" He entered the room with Mr. Worthington, and Rae. Steve put his hand on Mrs Barraclough's shoulder, and indicated that she should remain with him.

As they stood together, neither of them knowing what to say to each other, they heard a gasp and a sob come from inside the room. She tried once again to get to her employer and friend, but Steve stopped her. "No, ma'am, you must wait here just a little while longer."

Rae looked at the distraught man. "Is this your wife, Mr. Worthington?" 

He just nodded. Then he started to talk to her. "Candi, I am so sorry. My darling, please forgive me for not being there when you needed me." His body sagged and he laid his head on her chest. The sound of his sobbing could be heard throughout the room. Rae and Jesse moved back and let him have some time with his wife. They both knew they could say nothing to help.

Steve sat on a chair by the doorway he hated this. There was no easy way to get through an ordeal like this. Somebody always suffered, and it was left to people like Rae, Jesse and himself to pick up the pieces, legally and medically, and for their families if they were lucky enough to have one to do the same thing emotionally. James had Mrs Barraclough who had joined her employer inside the room.

After just over half an hour Rae moved over to Mr. Worthington and put her hand on his shoulder. "Sir, I think we should be going now."

"No, no. I have to stay with her; she has no one to stay with her. I left her, I won't leave her again." Rae looked helplessly at Jesse. James Worthington was a big man; she knew that if he refused to leave the room there was nothing that she could do about it. Mrs Barraclough was sitting slightly away from everybody else, tears streaming down her face. Rae had tried to comfort her but she knew she had failed.

"Sir, I really think that you should come with me now." Jesse walked up to him, and to his relief saw the man stand up. 

There was a long pause and then the man turned and seemed to pull himself together slightly. "Yes, Doctor, I will. I'm sorry, Detective, please forgive my behaviour." 

Rae smiled at this man, who was still trying to be a gentleman when his whole world had collapsed around him. "There is nothing to apologise for, Mr. Worthington." Rae indicated towards the door and the four of them moved towards it together.

Steve stood up, looked over to his partner, and saw her nod. Mr. Worthington walked over with his housekeeper, and they stood together. 

"Now that the formalities have been dealt with, you may get in touch with the funeral home and arrange for your wife's body to be taken there." Steve felt a little awkward, he wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling it had something to do with the fact that Mrs Barraclough was holding James Worthington's hand once again. _She is like his nanny!_ The thought shocked him, but also comforted him, as strangely, did the fact that she seemed so upset. Until now she had seemed almost devoid of feelings, Steve was relieved to see that wasn't the case.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, Detective, and ah, Doctor Travis. I will let you know when the arrangements have been made."

The three friends stood together and watched as Mr Worthington left the hospital with his housekeeper. Rae turned to Steve and smiled. "He seems so upset by her death, but at least he won't be alone with Mrs Barraclough around. She is almost mothering him isn't she?"

"You could say that. Come on, I'm starved. Let's go down to the cafeteria and we can go over what I found out from Mr. Worthington this morning." _Which wasn't much, but I need food._

Steve tucked into a plateful of macaroni and cheese, while Rae looked over his notes. 

"Poor man, he is always going to blame himself isn't he?" 

Steve nodded, his mouth full of food.

"So, what time do you start at Bob's, nine isn't it?"

"I may cry off. It's been a long time since I had an early night, and Jess is on tonight, it doesn't need both of us to work." 

"Oh, Steve, no, please don't." She paused, her mind racing.  "Jesse was gonna finish just after you started, so that we could spend some time together. Please, I know we are all going to celebrate together tomorrow, but, well you know…" Rae finished, hoping that her excuse rang true. Her love life could do with a little livening up, but it was Steve's she was more interested in right now.

"Oh, Rae, I'm sorry, I didn't think. Sure, that won't be a problem, but I don't know how long I'll be able to stay for tomorrow night, ok? I'm getting to forget what my bed actually feels like!"

Rae breathed a huge sigh of relief, and took a drink of her soda. "I'm going to go back to the station. I'll finish up and have a word with the Chief. Then I'll see you at about nineish tonight. I think I'll come and meet up with Jess." With that she got up from the table and headed for the exit. Steve waved his fork at her and carried on eating.

The Chief was on the phone when Rae got back to the station but he held up his hand and gestured for her to come in. He replaced the handset and looked over his desk at her. "Well, Detective, I take it that you have heard that Mr. Levington is to be detained, how would you say it? At Her Majesty's Pleasure, for twenty years."

Rae smiled. "Yes, Sir, thank you, Sir. We are having a celebratory meal at BBQ Bob's tomorrow night, you are welcome to join us."

"Thank you, Detective, but I have ah a prior engagement. Now, how have you and Lieutenant Sloan got on today?"

"Well, Steve interviewed Mr. Worthington." Rae paused. She knew that she was supposed to be working by the book, and straight away she had veered off and gone to the hospital leaving Steve by himself. "I had to go and see Doctor Travis. I only heard the news as we left the precinct." 

"That is quite understandable. I did know that Mr. Worthington was only interviewed by one of you. Please continue."

"He feels that his wife was probably killed due to his line of work. Unfortunately we think that he's right. We'll do a background check into his wife's business dealings, financial position and all the normal things, but at the moment, from the items found at the scene I think that Mr. Worthington's assumption is correct." Rae stopped talking. Once again she felt that she should have more to say. She had been dealing with the Chief for almost six months and he still made her feel inadequate.

"Thank you Detective. I suggest that you get on then."

"Ah, I have actually finished for today, Sir. We'll start again tomorrow. It's too late to contact any of the people we need to speak to." Rae looked across the desk at her boss. _And I have to sort out my partner's love life, but I guess that is way too much information!_

"Very well, Detective, enjoy your evening." 

Rae knew that she had been dismissed, so she left the room, cleared her desk and headed for her little car. Jesse was going straight to Bob's, and he knew that she was coming with Jo. By the time she arrived home she was humming and really looking forward to the evening.

But as Rae opened the door to her apartment, she realised that it was a quiet and lonely place. She picked up the local paper and checked through the advertisements. She found the one she was looking for and picked up the phone. Ten minutes later she was back in Tom and heading towards a house about a half mile from the apartment building, and half an hour after that she was on her way back home with a small travel cage on the back seat and a bag of groceries next to it.

With a big smile on her face, she once again opened the door to her apartment and put her purchases down. Then she took the travel cage and put it down in front of the sofa. She got on the floor next to it and opened the front. Slowly and cautiously a little head appeared, Rae laughed and the head disappeared straight back in again. 

Trying not to laugh any more she sat quietly and waited. After a few minutes curiosity won out and the little head reappeared. This time Rae made no sound and the rest of the body followed. A little ginger kitten stood, shakily, in the doorway of its temporary refuge and looked around its new home. "Hey, baby, you're a sweet thing aren't you? Will you let me pick you up so we can take a look around together?" She gently placed her hand underneath its front paws, and then the other one behind its back legs and lifted her up. She weighed nothing at all. 

Once Rae had picked her up she could hold her in one hand. She rubbed a finger underneath her throat and heard a tiny little purr. She walked around the apartment, talking to her all the time, and ended up back in the kitchen. Rae got out the kitten food that she had bought and put a little bit on a saucer. Then she put the kitten down and watched. First of all the little thing just stood there, then she sniffed. Then to Rae's delight she looked up at her and she ate it. Rae had purposely only put a little bit down, and after the kitten had eaten it, she put the kitty litter tray down by the rubbish bin, which was just outside her kitchen area. She then picked up the kitten and put her in it. Once again she looked at her, but this time she was not happy and just walked straight out of the box.

Rae checked her watch, it was twenty past eight. "Ok, baby, I have to go out and sort a few things. I think it would probably be a good thing if you went back into your box for now." Rae gently placed the kitten back in the box and headed for the shower. Then she got dressed and sorted out some books for Martin. When she was done she looked in the front of the cage and smiled. Her new pet was fast asleep.

Jo was standing in the parking lot when Rae arrived. She was just out of sight of the restaurant, and she stood next to a dark blue jeep. Rae pulled Tom up next to her and got out of her car. "Hey, you haven't been standing out here very long have you? It's not that safe an area."

"No, mom, I just got here. But this a pretty safe part of LA. If any of it is really safe.  I must have been out of my car ooh about ten seconds. An' don't worry, honey, I can look after myself." 

"I'm from London remember, which is way safer than here, and I wouldn't stand by my car on my own there either."

Jo smiled at Rae and then took a deep breath. "So, did he agree of his own free will to meet with me tonight?"

"Ah, he doesn't actually know that you're coming… I thought it would be a nice surprise."

"Rae!" Jo's face changed from a friendly smile to a look of horror. "He'll think I'm playin' him for a fool!"

"It's ok, Jesse is supposed to finish about now, and Steve take over."

"Jesse?"

"Jesse is his partner in Bob's. He's a doctor at Community General hospital and my boyfriend. He knows you're coming. We've arranged it between us so that we'll stay on. You and Steve can go off somewhere else, or eat here, whichever you choose. But trust me, once he gets over the shock and embarrassment he'll be fine." _Or I'll be walking a beat by morning. _ "Come on, let's go in. It's cold out here. You look very nice by the way."

Jo smiled at her. She had black jeans on with a deep green cashmere top under a black leather jacket. Her hair was piled up on her head, hurriedly it looked, but Rae had a feeling that it had been done with care. Her black boots obviously had quite high heels, because Jo was now about seven inches taller than Rae. They looked at each other at the same moment, laughed and headed for the door.

Rae went in first, Steve turned and smiled at her, but the smile froze on his lips as he saw Jo walk in behind her. 

Jo nearly let her courage fail her as she saw Steve's reaction. She was ready to turn and hightail it out the door, but Rae grabbed her hand and carried on walking into the restaurant.

"Steve, look who I found outside."  Rae moved across the floor bringing Jo with her. As she passed in front of Steve she let go of Jo's hand and turned to her partner. "I'm sure that there is something you need to say to Jo, maybe at that reserved table over there. Jess and I will cover for you. Then she carried on walking over to where Jesse was standing, put her arms around his neck and kissed him gently on the lips. "Hey sweetie, miss me?"

"Always, think we're gonna get away with this?"

Steve looked over to where his partner and his best friend were standing, watching him warily. Then he turned back to Jo. "I think I have been set up." He wasn't sure if he was delighted or furious, so he decided to go with delighted. He undid his apron, walked round from behind the counter and smiled at Jo. "Would you like to come with me, ma'am?"  Jo nodded and they walked over towards the most discrete table in the place, the table that Jesse had surreptitiously placed a reserved sign on. "Unless you would like to eat somewhere else?"

"Yeah, Jess, I think we'll get away with it." Rae smiled, picked up a pad and went to work.

Jo looked around the restaurant. "Nope, this is fine with me, I just love barbeque, reminds me of home!"

Steve held out the chair and Jo sank gratefully onto it. She'd had no idea how Steve would react when she walked in with Rae, but now she thought that the evening would probably be a success.

"I'm sorry about this. I guess Rae has something to do with you being here?" Steve looked across at Jo, she was a beautiful woman, and now that they were away from everybody else he had a feeling that they would get on well.

Jesse came across, beaming. "Would you like something to drink? Wine, soda, mineral water?" He looked at Jo as he spoke. 

"A beer would be nice. Anythin' as long as it's ice cold."

Steve was grinning as he looked across at Jesse. "I'll have the same, Jess, and could we have a menu?" 

With a flourish Jesse produced two menus from behind his back, and laid them on the table. Then he went off to get the drinks. Rae was working tables at the other end of the restaurant and she saw Jo begin to talk as Jesse moved away.

"So, you had nothin' to do with this then?" Jo didn't seem convinced.

"No, until you walked in the door I thought that I'd blown it with you the other night. What made you change your mind? … If you don't mind me asking?" Steve wiped his hands down the legs of his jeans and hoped she wouldn't notice.

"No I don't mind. Your partner is a real nice lady. She told me that if you had asked me out it wasn't because you did it all the time, but because you really wanted me to say yes. So I decided to give you a second chance."

Jesse returned with the drinks and waited. "Yes, Jesse, was there something?"

"Do you know what you want yet?"

"Oh, Jess, no, sorry. Give us a minute, huh?"

"Ok. But we close in about 2 hours y'know!" Jesse grinned and headed over to another table.

"Jo, what would you like? I can recommend everything… I know the chef." He smiled across at her.

"Hey, I'm an expert in barbeque, why don't we just have a bit of everythin' an' I'll give you my opinion on the chef, later!" Jo smiled at him, and was relieved to see him smile back. He seemed real nervous.

Steve waved Jesse over and gave their order, then he turned back to her. "If you're an expert in barbeque how come I haven't seen you in here before?"

"Maybe you missed me… I've been here, but I don't remember seein' you or Jesse, guess you must have been someplace else that night. I had a nice meal, I'm happy to try it again." 

"Besides, can you imagine what Rae and Jesse would have done if we'd gone somewhere else." Steve smiled over at her, and decided that delight was definitely the right feeling, when she gave a peal of laughter.

"She's a cop isn't she? I get the feelin' wherever we went she would have followed. Just to make sure we didn't mess things up this time."

After that the conversation flowed, the meal was good and before either of them knew it they were the only two customers left in the place. Jesse and Rae had sat at a table closer to the door and were also chatting quietly.

"I have somebody for you to meet when you are free." Rae looked at Jesse with a glint in her eye. "I've got a houseguest."

"Who, one of your children? I didn't think they were due over for a couple more months. After that trip to Disneyland we took with CJ and Dion we really need to save up!"

"No, no, not one of my family, but she will be part of our family here. This little soul is about six weeks old, and really cute." After that she would say no more. Jesse looked at her and shrugged.

"Guess I'd better cash up. You wanna go and make sure that the dishwasher is ready. Then when we can get those two lovebirds to leave their table we can all head for home."

Jesse stood up, making sure that his chair scraped across the floor as he did so. 

"Jess!" Rae hissed, "stop it, leave them be."

Steve turned at the sound, and checked his watch. "Ah, I think that they are waiting to close up shop. Can I drive you home?"

"No, thank you, Steve, I brought my car. But you sure can walk me to it, if you'd like." She smiled up at him as he stood and pulled her chair out for her. He held her jacket for her and she slipped her arms in. "Thank you. Your daddy taught you good manners. You are a gentleman."

"Hey, I try." They walked towards the exit, and Jesse's eyes followed them every step of the way. "We're going, Jess. Tell Rae I'll see her tomorrow. Bright and early." With that he held the door and they walked outside.

Jo shivered. "Ooh, the night's are gettin' a bit chilly. This is my car." She stopped by the blue jeep and turned to Steve. "Thank you, Steve, for a nice night.  Rae was right, I made a mistake. I'm glad you were man enough to give me a second chance." Steve gave her a smile that made her heart leap.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." 

"I sure did." Jo said, "We may have gotten off to an awkward start, Steve, but it turned out to be a perfect evening."

Steve looked at her, took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge. "How about a third chance, I'm not working Thursday night, maybe you could recommend somewhere to go then."

"I'd love to. How about we meet at Musso and Frank's on Hollywood Boulevard at eight? I'll call and book."

"You want to do the tourist thing, huh? Ok. I'll meet you there at eight on Thursday."

Jo moved over to him and kissed him quickly on the cheek, then she got into her car, waving as she pulled out of her parking space.

Steve smiled. He went back towards the restaurant and opened the door. "Are you all right for sauce, Jesse, or do you want me to make some before I call it a night?"

"Hey, I thought you'd gone already. Yeah, the sauce is fine, I made a new batch up earlier. We're covered 'til the weekend. See ya, buddy."

Steve went back out and got into his car. For a while on Thursday he would play tourist, he couldn't remember the last time he'd got to do that. He pushed a Billy Joel cd into the player and headed for home.


	3. Chapter 3 Monsters Stalking Their Prey

**Monsters Stalking Their Prey**

Rae sat at her desk the next morning just after eight. Steve was bringing over the coffee and her tea and she was trying to read the autopsy report through without loosing her cool. "How could somebody say that they were against suffering and then do this to another human being?" 

"I thought the same thing. That woman suffered an unspeakable death. I don't ever want to have to tell somebody again what I told James Worthington yesterday." Steve sighed, and placed the cups down on Rae's desk. He picked up his notes from when they were with Amanda and started to compare them with the report. As he leant over Rae's desk he sneezed, twice.

"Bless you. You know, there is a possibility of going overboard on this. I know the Chief is involved, but we don't need two sets of autopsy notes. Amanda is more than thorough. Relax. He doesn't bite!" Rae smiled, but the smile disappeared as she heard her name being called.

"Detective Yeager, Chief wants you."

She stood up, smoothed down her shirt, picked up her drink and all the papers she had collected so far and headed for the door, then she stopped looked at her drink and put it back on her desk. "Can you get on with obtaining Mrs Worthington's financial and phone records, Steve?  Just in case there is another reason for this. And also because I told the Chief we would." She smiled completely then and carried on walking.

Chief Masters was sitting rigidly at his desk when Rae entered. "Good morning, Detective. I see you have come prepared. Good, good. Sit down, please."

Rae sat and put the pile of folders down in front of her. "I wasn't sure what you already had, Sir, so I have brought everything we have so far. Lieutenant Sloan is on the phone to the bank at the moment, just in case…" She stopped as the Chief slightly raised his hand.

"Yes, yes, Detective. Now, I have a copy of the autopsy report here. Doctor Bentley sent me one over herself. How much of this does James Worthington know?"

"Steve…Lieutenant Sloan gave him some details. He told him how she was found, and some of what happened, but he hasn't seen any of the photos, and he doesn't, as far as I know, have any idea of what was written on the wall."

"Yes, I see. Detective, this shocks me, and I thought I was past being shocked. She was a lovely woman."

Rae thought for a second, then taking a breath began to speak. "Sir, I realise that this is an imposition, but could you tell me what she was like? We haven't asked Mr. Worthington, it's not always reliable to ask a grieving partner to comment." Rae stopped talking. _Oh, way to go, Rae, that was lame._ But to her surprise the Chief actually smiled.

"I have known James Worthington since we were in school together. He was always… always a middle aged man, if you understand my meaning." The Chief paused, and Rae looked at him. She wasn't sure if she should say anything so she stayed quiet. It was obviously the correct thing to do because slowly her boss continued. "When he first met Candi she was a secretary at the firm where he worked. He was a scientist; I was by then a homicide sergeant. She made him young. She was a quiet, well-educated young woman, but compared to James she was …" He paused again and this time Rae couldn't resist.

"Hyperactive?"

"Yes, quite possibly. They married when he started his own company, and that was it. They were happy. They never had any children; there was just the two of them and Mrs. Barraclough. I think that was all they ever needed."

Rae smiled at him. For the first time she felt she shared something with this man. She had an enormous respect for him, and she knew that he would put his life on the line for the department if necessary, but he also had the ability to make her feel about six years old. "I think that they were all very lucky then, Sir, if you don't mind me saying.  It is a rare person who realises that they are happy and content with their lives. I hope that one day he will be able to look back with some pleasure."

"Well, we had better help him then hadn't we, Detective? I don't need to see your comments yet. I'm sure that if you have anything of note to show me you will keep me informed, and I will be keeping in contact with James anyway."

Rae knew that this was not said to worry her, but just as one friend who would be concerned about another. She smiled at her boss, and with her heart considerably lighter than when she came in she turned to go. She paused at the door, and taking a deep breath she looked back towards the Chief. "Sir, you have lost a very good friend, I hope you will accept my sympathies, the way that they are meant."

"Yes, thank you, Reagan. I do."

Rae turned again, she had no wish to embarrass him further so she left without another word and headed back to the squad room and the safe haven of her desk.

Steve was talking on the phone as she sat down, and so she quietly waited for him to finish. She put the folders back in the file tray and running her fingers through her hair looked about her. The squad room was quiet, but busy. It was now just coming up to ten past nine, and everybody in the room seemed to have something to do. 

Rae was just going to make another drink for her and Steve when her phone rang. "Detective Yeager… Yes, that's right… Thank you very much. We will be over later to interview him… Ten o'clock would be fine…Lieutenant Steve Sloan and Detective Reagan Yeager." Rae put the phone down and hunted through the papers in her tray. She found what she was looking for and took a pencil and a piece of paper and began to draw.

Steve put the phone down and looked at the notes on his pad. James Worthington had phoned the bank and given his permission for all of his late wife's details to be given to either Rae or himself.  He had arranged to go and view her safety deposit box after lunch, but the figures on his pad contained no surprises. He got up and walked over to Rae's desk and then looked in amazement at her pad.

Rae had drawn droplets of blood all over it. Then she had been putting letters or faces over the top. 

"What **are** you doing?"

"Oh, don't do that!"

"What?" Steve looked bemused.

"Creep up on me! I am trying to see what the badge we saw would look like with other animals or even slogans across it."

"Oh!" Steve was none the wiser. "And I suppose there is a real good reason for this?"

"No, not really." Rae smiled sheepishly. "I was just waiting for you to come off the phone, and the badge was in my mind."

"Why was the badge in your mind?" Steve looked at her. "Good grief Rae, this is like pulling teeth. Tell me what is going on. Atishoo!"

"Bless you. I'm sorry. Neville Grump was just checked over by the doctor at the county jail, I think you call it. He has a tattoo on his chest."

They had contacted the warden and asked him to check Grump's belongings for the badge, or anything containing that symbol. Steve smiled, he was enlightened at last. "A drop of blood with a rabbit on the front of it?"

Rae nodded. "We are booked in to see him at ten. I doubt if we will get anything out of him, he can of course refuse to say a word, but you never know."

It was just over two hours later when Rae and Steve drove back from the prison. "You do realise that that was all your fault don't you?" Steve said, unable to keep the exasperation out of his voice.

"What was my fault? I didn't do anything." Rae had her eyes shut as she leant back on the headrest; she didn't open them as she spoke.

"You were the bright spark who said 'of course, he can refuse to speak to us' or something like that. And what happens? The guy doesn't open his mouth the whole time we are there. Great. What a waste of time."

Rae turned her head and stuck her tongue out at him. "I plead the fifth."

"Oh, God, not you too!" But Steve smiled. "Want some lunch before we go to the bank?"

Rae just nodded and Steve indicated left and headed towards the hospital. "Food, I want food, not hospital glop."

Steve said nothing, and twenty minutes later they got out of the car and headed towards the canteen. Steve sneezed three times as he got out of the car.

"Have you got a cold coming, Steve? Because if you have I don't want it." Rae handed him a tissue.

"No, I only sneeze when I'm near you!" He took the tissue and put it in his pocket.

"Well I'll keep away from you. I have new perfume on today, perhaps it's that."

They walked into the hospital, and Rae headed for the ER. Jesse was working in a trauma suite when she got there, so Rae headed for Amanda's lab. She tapped on the door and waited.

"Come in."

"Hi, Amanda, I just wanted to check that you were still able to come tonight?"

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it. How are you feeling today, relieved I would think?"

"You know I haven't had time to think about it at all yet. Jesse and I talked a little about it last night, but I think that our first reaction was exhaustion. We both went our separate ways, and I know I slept soundly all night, I hope he did too."

Amanda smiled at her and leant over. "You have a cat hair on you. Either that or you have been cuddling up against a ginger haired man!"

"No, it's cat. I have a kitten, six weeks old, and as cute as a button. I think I'm gonna call her Kira. I only got her yesterday."

"Oh, CJ and Dion will be so jealous. They have been on at me to get a pet ever since the rabbit died and went to bunny heaven." She rolled her eyes and laughed slightly. The pride shining in her face as she talked about her boys.

At that moment Jesse put his head round the door. "Hey, I thought I saw you come in. Are you here for lunch?"

Rae nodded. "Are you free?"

"You didn't ask me that!" Amanda tried to look hurt.

"Oh, Amanda, I'm so sorry, you're welcome to join us."

"What and be a gooseberry to you two lovebirds, no way. I have far too much work anyway. I'll see you both at Bob's at eight." She smiled then and waved them away. "Now, go, shoo, shoo. Before I get you working."

Rae and Jesse looked at each other and then they both turned stuck their tongues out at her and left hurriedly.

They headed for the doctor's lounge, which was empty and went in together. "So, beautiful, did you sleep well last night? I sure did, relief I guess." Jesse looked happy and relaxed, and Rae realised just how much he had been pinning his hopes on a long jail term for Levington.

"Jesse, I owe you an apology."

"For what?" He looked puzzled and took her hands in his.

"For not realising until right now just how much all the business with Levington, what he did to you and all the stress and strain of the trial, had effected you. Honey, I am so sorry."

"Rae, he hurt you too. We talked about it. There was no point in going over and over it. You know I don't think I knew either until you told me yesterday that he had been jailed." He paused and pulled her towards him. "I have never been so scared in my life, Rae, I don't ever want to have to face losing you again." 

"I'm not planning to go anywhere, well not for six months anyway. I love you, Jess." Rae ran her finger down his cheek and smiled as he moved closer to her. He began to kiss her and they sank down onto the sofa together. Alex opened the door to the lounge, took one look and left. The grin on his face spread from ear to ear.

Steve met up with Rae in the parking lot at the end of their lunch break and they headed towards Candi Worthington's bank. As they drove along Steve filled Rae in on what he had found out that morning. "She had a pretty normal bank account for the wife of a wealthy man. I don't think she had any private means. She was just a secretary when she met James."

"Hey, I was **just** a secretary before I joined the force."

"Oh, so that's why you make such a good cup of coffee."

"Watch it, Sloan!" She smiled over at her partner. She felt incredible. As if she could open the window and float right out of it.

"Rae, are you ok?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm more than ok." She shook herself. "Sorry. I'm fine, I think it's just reaction to yesterday. I feel like I'm soaring above the clouds at the moment. It's a wonderful feeling. I know it won't last, but right now it feels good."

"I'm so pleased for you, Rae. But we can concentrate on that later. The bank is only two blocks away, and I haven't finished talking to you yet."

"Sorry, Steve. I'm listening, honest."

"Right, as I was saying she was a secretary before she married James. From what I have seen in her finances there was money coming in from stocks and shares, and other investments. She had the interest from her savings accounts paid into it each month. I went back over six months worth of accounts and she didn't go overdrawn once."

"Did she have credit cards?" Rae wasn't taking notes; she knew it wasn't necessary; Steve was like a cat on a hot tin roof about the Chief's involvement in this case. 

"Yep, two, both used regularly. Didn't look like she cleared the balance every month, but it never got too bad before she wiped it out and started again."

Steve had parked the car in the parking lot behind the bank and as they finished talking they got out and walked towards the bank. Steve held the door open and Rae walked in. She looked around and saw the customer service desk. As they walked towards it Rae was aware of the female eyes following her partner across the floor.

"Do you bank here, Steve?"

"No, why?"

"Because every woman in the place just made you." She looked at him and laughed as she saw a blush spread up his face. Then with a wink she took his hand and they walked the rest of the way together. The clerk on the customer service desk averted her eyes as they approached. With a great deal of enjoyment Rae got out her ID. "Hi, I'm Detective Yeager, we have an appointment with…" she looked at Steve.

"Mr. Martinez at 2.00pm. We are a little early."

"If you would take a seat, Sir, Madam, I will inform you when he is free." Her eyes travelled over Steve and she turned to the door behind her.

"Well, I think if you needed a loan this would be the place to come. Is there anything else you need to tell me before we go in there?"

"Um, yeah, I checked the joint account too. You know it is so much easier when we have permission to do all this stuff. Always in credit, same bills paid out of it each month. No surprises. The account matches the man, if you know what I mean."

"I do. Did you know that he and the Chief were at school together?"

"Jeez, I can't imagine the Chief as a schoolboy. What a terrifying thought… I wonder what he did at lunchtimes?" Steve looked around to see Rae looking at him with a puzzled look. "I'll explain later. Remind me tonight and I'll fill you in." He stood as he saw the clerk coming towards them.

"Mr. Martinez is free now, if you would like to follow me." 

Rae got up and they went down the corridor and were shown into a large, airy office. The furniture was modern and a pale ash colour. The man was tall, thin and must have been seventy years old.

"Detective Yeager, Lieutenant Sloan, please come in. Thank you, Elise." The clerk left the room and Mr. Martinez sat behind his desk. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"We are investigating the death of one of your customers, a Mrs Candi Worthington. Candi was short for Candice. We have permission from her husband to view her safety deposit box." Steve took the signed letter from his pocket that had been sent over by courier earlier that day.

Mr. Martinez took the envelope, opened it and read the contents very carefully. Then he picked up his phone. "Elise, could you please get me the safety deposit box for Candice Worthington, account #. 3498186 and bring it in to me. Thank you."

"I have the financial records of Mrs. Worthington's accounts up until close of business last Wednesday. Could you please let me have the details of all transactions after that date, Sir?" Steve smiled slightly as he spoke. He was pulling on a pair of latex gloves and could see from the way the bank manager was sitting and acting that he found this and the questioning very worrying.

"Did you know Mrs Worthington, Mr. Martinez?" Rae could see that the man was upset as well. "Only we appear to be distressing you, that isn't our intention."

"I knew her slightly. She had been a customer here for many years, as has Mr. Worthington. She had been in just last week to put some things in her safety deposit box. I lost my wife a couple of months ago, I guess I just sympathise with her husband."

There was a discreet knock at the door and Elise came in with the safety deposit box. Mr. Martinez asked her to obtain the records that Steve had asked for and then she left the room.

"Would you like me to leave while you look through this, Lieutenant?"

"No, Sir, that's fine. We have no reason to suspect Mrs. Worthington of any wrongdoing, or her husband either. We just need to look to eliminate possible scenarios from our investigation." Steve was unlocking the box as he spoke. He slid the lid back and began to remove the contents.

The first item was an envelope, which was sealed with last Wednesday's date written across the flap. A clear plastic wallet with stock certificates in it. There was a jeweller's box, which contained a pair of beautiful ruby earrings and a matching necklace. There was also an envelope with James Worthington written on it. Steve lay that to one side. He wouldn't open that until he was in the presence of her husband. 

Rae had pulled on her gloves and she leant over and picked up the first envelope. It was a large size and was quite full. "Do you have a letter opener, Mr Martinez?" 

The manager just nodded and passed the opener to Rae. She slit the top of the package and slid the contents onto the desk. As she saw what the envelope contained she let out a gasp, but managed to contain the rest of her emotions. In front of her was a pile of hate mail.

"Oh, my." Mr. Martinez looked shocked. 

Rae collected the letters back up and returned them to their envelope. "I think we will look at these back at the station." 

While Rae was writing out a receipt for the envelopes Steve took out his pad and made a note of all the contents. Then he returned everything except the two envelopes and closed the box. "Thank you Mr. Martinez, I am sure that you realise that what transpired here today is confidential."

"Of course, Lieutenant. My position in this bank means that I am privy to many confidential matters, you have my word that I will not disclose anything that has happened."

Steve and Rae stood up and shook hands with Mr. Martinez. Then they headed back out to Steve's car, picking up the requested transaction details from Elise as they passed her desk.

"We should be finishing about now, but I think that we need to go back to the station and look at these letters." Rae turned to her partner. "You know I don't think that James knew about this, do you?"

"No, he would have mentioned it. Ok. Let's go and have a look through them. Then we can leave the rest of it until tomorrow." Steve drove the car back towards the precinct and Rae put her head back and shut her eyes. The next thing she knew she was being touched gently on the shoulder. "Rae, wake up, we've stopped."

She opened her eyes and smiled sleepily up at her partner as he leant in her side of the car. "What?"

"We're back. We need to look at these letters." 

"What, oh, I must have dropped off, sorry, Steve." Rae could feel herself blushing as she got out of the car. _Roll on Friday; I could do with a day off_.

They walked into the station together and headed for Rae's desk, as it was the clearer of the two. Once they had put on gloves she slid the contents of the envelope out onto the table before her. First of all she counted them. There were nine letters, each one written either in red paint or blood. Rae shuddered. "Wow, and I thought my letters were bad."

Steve spread them out in front of him. All of the letters contained profanities and threats. They weren't dated but as they read them it became apparent that the threats had got worse and worse. Rae turned one over and saw that a date had been written on the back in a different hand. She checked the others and sorted them once again into order. They had only got one wrong. The letter that they had correctly assumed to be the last one gave details of how Mrs. Worthington would meet her death.

Rae ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm gonna go get the Chief. He needs to see this." She left the room, her thoughts rushing around her head. She knocked on the door and waited. 

"Come."

"Sir, we have obtained some evidence that we think you should see. It is on my desk at present, would it be convenient for you to come and see it, or would you prefer that we come to you."

"I would rather see it here, Detective." Rae nodded, she realised rather belatedly that it would be insensitive to expect the Chief to view the letters in a public place. "I'm sorry, Sir, I'll get Lieutenant Sloan and we'll bring them to you." With that Rae backed out of the room and returned to her partner.

"We need to take these to the Chief, Steve. It was wrong of me to expect him to come here. James and Candi were his friends." She watched as he gathered up the letters and then they headed back towards their boss' office.

"Lieutenant, Detective, please come straight in." The Chief was waiting in the doorway as they arrived.  He watched as Steve spread out the letters. The expression on his face didn't falter, but Rae could see that he had his fists clenched.

"Yes, I see. Very well. I don't think that we need to trouble Mr. Worthington with these at present. Can either of you remember whether the writing on these letters is in any way similar to that on the wall of the murder scene?"

"No, Sir, but I can get the photo, if you could wait a minute." Rae moved out of the office and headed back to where they had placed the Worthington files. She took out the photo that she needed and was back in with her superiors within two minutes.

They put the photo next to one of the letters and looked. To their trained eyes they looked the same. "I will get these to the lab. They are more expert than we are at this. We should have a result by the morning." Steve put the picture with the letters and turned to the Chief. "We found these in Mrs. Worthington's safety deposit box, Sir. There wasn't anything else of relevance in there, except an envelope addressed to Mr. Worthington, which we plan to give to him when we visit tomorrow. We left everything else at the bank."

"Yes, thank you, Lieutenant. I think you can go now." They both left the room. Steve was shocked at how much feeling had been in that simple sentence.

Rae turned as she shut the door and smiled at the Chief. He looked straight through her, but she had a feeling that he relaxed slightly.

Steve sat at his desk. Rae walked over to him. "There isn't any more we can do today, Steve, it's after four. Tomorrow we can get those four activists in here, check their handwriting, and carry on from there. But now we need to call it a day. Come on, partner." Rae put her hand on his arm.

"I don't like this, Rae. I knew it was premeditated; it had to be, but that poor woman, she knew what was coming days before. It was … Dammit, Rae these monsters were stalking their prey." He slammed his fist down on the desk, making Rae jump back in surprise. "Why didn't she tell her husband, or the Chief? We could have given her protection." He stood up and his chair fell back. Rae knew that he was feeling furious and helpless. 

"Steve, if she felt anything like I did when Levington had me at his beck and call, she would have been too frightened to think straight. If I hadn't been a cop, I don't think I would have told anybody what was happening to me. You can't blame her for any of this. Yes, we could have helped her, but she had to want that help…

"Do you think she didn't want help?" Steve sounded shocked.

"Steve, I'm sure that she did want help, but if she couldn't ask for it, there's nothing we could have done." Rae tried to keep her voice low and restrained, hoping that it would calm her partner some.

"I know, Rae, but… oh, let's drop it. I'm gonna go home, grab a shower and a bite to eat. I'll see you at Bob's at eight, ok?"

Rae just nodded. Then she took a breath and spoke, "If you don't want to come, Steve, I'll understand, I'd be sad, but I would accept it."

"No, Rae, I'll be there, maybe it's just what we need. Come on, partner, this is your night. You just got your life back, I'm not gonna miss tonight." He forced a smile and they collected up all their paperwork. After they had locked it away for the day they headed out to the parking lot together.

Rae arrived home just after five thirty, having sat in traffic for most of the way home. She was tired and gritty. Jesse's car was parked in his normal spot and she pulled in next to him. 

Rae knocked on Jesse's door and waited for him to answer. As he opened the door she could see that he had just got out of the shower, and was only wearing jeans. "Oh, boy, you could get arrested for looking that good. Come here." She pulled him to her and began to kiss him, running her hands down his back as she did so.

"Mmm, Rae." Gently he moved back from her a smile on his face. "Hi, that was quite a welcome."

"Want some more, or do you wanna come and meet my new family member?"

"Oh, yeah, ok, just let me get a shirt."

"Only if you promise to take it off again when we get next door!"  She grinned at him and waited as he disappeared back into his apartment.

They walked hand in hand towards her door and Rae unlocked it. She walked over to the travel cage. She had set up a little corner of her apartment for the kitten. The door to the travel cage had been left open, the kitty litter tray was just over to the left of the cage and the food was just over to the right.  Rae looked around, there was one damp patch on the carpet, but the tray had been used for what her children so charmingly called number two's. She got a plastic bag from the kitchen, picked it up in the bag and then flushed it down the lavatory, put the bag in the bin, washed her hands and headed back to the living area.

When she walked through the door Jesse was down on his hands and knees peering into the cage. In the back of it he could see a small ginger ball of fluff. He made a few noises that sounded like kisses and smiled as the head rose and he was studied by this little creature.

He stood up and then he and Rae sat on the sofa together and watched as slowly the kitten came out into the room. "Oh, you big softie. He's so tiny. What are you gonna call him?"

"I know I'm a softie, but I get lonely here when you're working late shifts and I'm not. She won't be tiny for long; she'll be growing before your eyes. What was the other question?"

"What are you gonna call him?"

"It's a she. Not all gingers are male. Most of them are, but not all. I thought I'd call her Kira."

"Nice. I like her." Jesse turned to Rae and put his hand up to her face and brought her gently towards him.

As Rae began to respond she smiled. "Now weren't you going to get rid of that shirt?" She undid the buttons and slipped it off his shoulders, and felt Jesse begin to do the same to her top. As they began to kiss each other, they heard a little purr and suddenly Kira was up on the sofa with them, pushing her head against Jesse's chest and purring louder and louder. 

"Ok, sweetie, this is where you become an onlooker only." He picked her up with one hand and placed her gently back in her cage, shutting the door behind her. "Now, where were we?" He felt Rae pull him to his feet and they walked together into the bedroom. Soon they were lying naked on the bed, and as they kissed and touched each other Jesse felt the passion rise in him. "Rae, honey, I need you, now." 

Rae put her finger on his lips, "Shhh, you'll be fine." She ran her hands over his muscular chest once more, and kissed him slowly and deeply then she opened herself up for him and he entered her. As the rhythm got stronger and stronger he watched her face as she let all her feelings flow. She didn't say a word, but Jesse knew that they were about to dive off the edge of the world together. 

"Rae, oh, God, Rae," he couldn't contain himself any more. Rae had her fingers entwined through his and their grip became tighter and then suddenly relaxed. He fell in a heap on top of her and raised himself up slightly so that he could still see her face. 

He brushed a stray tear off her cheek and then he lay down beside her. "I love you, Rae, I… I don't know what I'm going to do when you go home."

"Shhh, tonight isn't the night to talk about that. Tonight is for celebration. We're free, Jess, free to live and love together without anybody watching us, or judging us. We'll talk about our future, but another time, ok?"

He just nodded. He had an idea in his head, a way she could stay, but it would take a while before he could tell her about it. He had to be sure if it was the right thing to do. 

They lay together for a few minutes, neither of them speaking, then a plaintive cry rose up from the other room, and they both began to laugh. "I think we're needed." Rae got up and slipped into her bathrobe and Jesse pulled his jeans on and lay back on the bed. She padded out into the living area and took Kira out of her cage. Then she went back into the other room and placed the kitten gently on Jesse's chest. "I'm just gonna have a shower, honey, you can baby sit until I get back."

Jesse looked at the little face that was staring at him. She had the biggest eyes he had ever seen. "Hey, I'm a hard nosed, crime fighting doctor, cat. Don't mess with me! Ow, ow, put your claws away. Ow, ow!"

Rae put her head round the door of the shower room. "Oh, for goodness sake, Jesse, she's six weeks old, she doesn't even have proper claws yet!"

"Hey, I'm delicate." He pouted at her, sat up and sent the kitten skittering across the bed, and she disappeared off the side into a mewing heap on the floor. "Oh, sweetie, I'm sorry," he followed her over the side and picked her up. "Well life is gonna be much more interesting with you here." Rae smiled at him and disappeared back into the shower room and he could hear her singing as she washed. "That is something you will have to learn to live with. Your mama can't sing! Rae, do you want me to feed her?"

"Yes please. The tin is in the refrigerator. Just a little bit, two spoonfuls is more than enough."

By the time they had both showered, and Rae had put on her only dress, it was half past seven and they were ready to leave. They walked down to Tom together and headed for the restaurant. It had become an unwritten rule that when they went out together, Rae drove. She didn't drink so there was never a problem with her driving home.

As they walked towards the restaurant Jesse let go of her hand and let her walk in front of him for a couple of steps. She was wearing a short deep blue velvet dress that shimmered when she walked. "You know you should wear that more often, you look lovely." 

"Thank you, kind sir. I kinda liked the outfit you had on when I got home from work!" She smiled and Jesse smiled back. 

They had reached the door by now and were surprised to see the closed sign up on it. Jesse tried the knob and was relieved when it opened. The restaurant was in darkness so he felt for the switch and flooded the place with light. As he did so a cheer went up and they walked in to a different Bob's. There was a banner up, which said **Congratulations. **There were streamers; balloons and each guest had a party hat on. Rae and Jesse looked at each other and headed towards their friends. 

Rae hugged Mark and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, Mark, what a lovely surprise. But this was supposed to be my treat."

"Sweetie, you and Jesse went through so much, this is just our way of saying how proud we are of how you coped and how glad we are it's all over for you."

Rae could feel the tears pricking the back of her eyes as she hugged Amanda and then Jan. She turned and saw Steve looking over at her. "Oh, Steve." She moved closer to him and felt herself being enveloped in his strong arms. "Thank you." She didn't need to say anything else, she stayed there for a moment and then she looked around, she could see Alex talking with Jesse, and Amanda and Jan chatting animatedly together. She moved towards Jess and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Alex, Jesse wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. Thank you." She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "I am so lucky to have found such a wonderful group of people." She slipped her arm around Jesse and leant into his shoulder. "Did you know anything about this?"

"Nope, I thought we were just coming for a meal." They moved over towards Steve together.  "Hey, buddy, can we afford to shut for the night?" 

"Of course, it's coming out of your profits, not mine!"

Rae smiled, as she realised that this was how it was supposed to be. Their work was serious, for all of them, but until now she hadn't been able to relax and enjoy their company. There had always been something hanging over them, or over her. Now it was different, that chapter had ended. She liked this new one a whole lot better.


	4. Chapter 4 Difficult Creatures

Difficult Creatures

Rae sat and looked over at her partner, it was nine in the morning; she had been in since eight and he hadn't said a word yet. "Steve, what is it?"

"Huh, oh, nothing. I have about a half dozen things on my mind right now, and I can't decide what to do about any of them." He looked across at her and tried to stifle a yawn.

"So, maybe I can help. Fire away."

"Ok, you asked for it. First of all, we have to interview four animal rights activists this morning, and my brain is still at home in its bucket." Rae smiled at him and he continued. "James Worthington has already been on to me this morning wanting to know what we found in his wife's safety deposit box." As he spoke Steve ran his hand across his eyes. "We are going to have to give him that envelope, which could have nothing more than a letter that she wrote when they first met, or a lock of hair in it, or it could be way more."

"I can do that for you if you would like. Or we can both go and I can do the talking, it's up to you." Rae got up and moved over to his desk. "And the next one?"

"I have a date tonight with Jo, and I just checked the restaurant on the Internet, and, well, remember that bank loan you mentioned…" 

"Oh, arm and leg job, huh?" Rae smiled. "Where are you actually going?"

"To a place called … Atishoo…"

"Gazuntheit! I think that's what you say here. You must be allergic to me, you only sneeze when I'm near you!"

"Oh, funny, so move away then…Atishoo, Atishoo!"

"Bless you." Rae got up and moved away from Steve and sat on the side of her desk. "So, where are you going?"

"Musso and Frank's on Hollywood Boulevard. Jo wanted to play tourist. But when I looked at the site about it, well it can cost $85 each!" Steve looked horrified.

Rae got her calculator out. "Wow, that's about £54 per head. What are you going to do about it?"

"Oh, I'll go, but I'll be eating sandwiches from home for the next two weeks!"

"Ok, what else then?"

"I just got a letter this morning from my tenant in the house I rent out saying that she is leaving at the end of her tenure, three months time. So I will have to sort that out too."

"Four down, two to go. Nothing too desperate yet, expensive, but not desperate." Rae smiled at her partner and waited.

"That's it. Only four things. Funny it seemed like way more.  I will take you up on your offer to talk to James Worthington. I'll come with you, but I'll let you do the talking, unless I think of something earth shattering to ask him." He checked his watch. "Almost ten o'clock. Let's see when he will be free, and then we can get Bob to give us the addresses of those activists and see them too. Then I think we can call it a day. We are both off tomorrow, so Saturday we can pull out all the stops to see what we can do with this."

"Don't forget, Saturday afternoon you are in the dunking booth at the Police Activity Day."

"Oh, I would forget it if I could, but I have a feeling that you won't let me." 

Rae laughed. Steve's face was a picture – she had been looking forward to this since the day she had persuaded him to do it.

"You are so right about that! Ok, I'll go and see Bob, you call James." Rae got off her desk and headed down to the front desk. Bob was, as usual on duty. 

"Detective, what can I do for you?"

"Oh, please call me Rae, especially as most of the time I am asking you favours." She smiled and took a breath. "Our animal rights activists, that is the four who stormed this place, plus the three from Worthington Labs can you get the officers involved in the original case to get the files out and check the handwriting against this?" Rae handed Bob a copy of one of the poison pen letters and then carried on talking. "If it is obvious that they couldn't have written this then ignore them. If in doubt let me have their names and addresses, home and work please. Then we will have the unenviable task of interviewing them again hopefully this morning."

"And you don't want me to get them to come in here?" Bob looked a little concerned.

"No, I think we'll be all right. We only want to find out if they have alibis and hopefully get a second handwriting sample from them. If they want to come in with their lawyers tomorrow, that's fine with me, I'm off."  Rae turned around as she heard a noise and saw Steve coming down the stairs. 

"Ok, are you ready to go, Rae? We are late already."

"Bob, don't forget to call me with those addresses? No better still, when we've finished at Mr. Worthington's I'll call you." Rae turned and followed her partner, who hadn't waited while she made her arrangements.  She didn't catch up with him until she got to his car.

"Come on, Rae, I said we would be there by half past ten, so we had better hurry up."

As Rae started to get in the car she saw that Kira had left fur on her jeans. She brushed it away and smiled. The little kitten was getting more confident by the hour, and had sat herself on the kitchen counter watching every move that Rae had made that morning. She was about to tell Steve all about her when he cut across her thoughts.

"I don't think that we'll show James Worthington the hate mail, but I feel that we should make some mention of it. We are only assuming that she didn't tell him, we could be completely wrong about that."

"True, but he's going to be hurt even more if he didn't know. Maybe I can help him understand why she wouldn't tell him, but unless you're the person being threatened I don't think you can completely understand." As she finished talking Rae realised that they had arrived at Mrs Fosters house. "Do you know how long before James will be able to return home?"

"They have finished there, I was going to tell him today that his home is his own again as soon as he feels ready to return to it. I sent over the inventory of everything that we found in the room. I need to remember to ask for that back too."

They got out of the car and headed for the front door, which was opened before they had walked halfway up the path. "Lieutenant, Detective, won't you please come in."

Mrs Barraclough was standing in the hallway, she looked her normal efficient self again this morning, and she held her hand out to Rae. "Detective, James is in the breakfast room, somehow it seems the right place for him to talk to you." There was a pause, as if the housekeeper was trying to choose her words carefully. "I feel I should tell you that he isn't coping with this very well. Neither of us are, but I am trying to be strong for him, and remain as I always have been. It isn't easy, but I feel I owe it to Candi." She paused then, and Rae saw her compose herself once again. Then she gave a small smile. "If you will follow me." 

Rae turned to her partner and saw Mrs Foster smiling at the retreating figure of her mother. They walked down to the open doorway of the breakfast room and entered.

James Worthington stood as Rae entered the room and also held his hand out to her. As she shook it she looked closely at the grieving man standing before her. He seemed to have sagged since she last saw him; it was as if it was taking every ounce of strength he had left just to stand up. "Detective, Lieutenant, thank you for coming to see me so quickly."

Rae was glad that she was dressed in dark more formal clothes this morning. For once she wasn't in jeans, but smart black trousers with a white shirt and a matching black jacket. "We wanted to let you have the envelope from your wife as quickly as we could, Sir." Rae paused, "Before I let you have it, I need to say that I will have to know what it says. If it isn't pertinent to the enquiry then it won't be made further use of." Rae stopped talking and looked over at Steve. He took the envelope out of his pocket and handed it over.

James Worthington's hands shook as he held it, and looked at his name on the front. "She had beautiful writing didn't she?"  Rae nodded. She knew that he was frightened to open it.

"I'm sorry, Detective, could you read it for me?" 

"Of course, Sir, if you would prefer." Rae looked over at Steve and saw him nod. She took a pair of gloves out of her pocket and pulled them on, then she looked around. There was a set of cutlery on the counter under the service hatch and she walked over and took a knife from it to use as a letter opener. As she turned she saw James Worthington take a deep breath. He was looking very shaky. "Mr. Worthington, are you feeling all right?"

"No, actually, my dear, I am feeling a little unwell." As he spoke he began to sway and Steve leapt forward to support him. 

Rae pulled her cell phone from her pocket and called 911. She went out into the hallway and called for Mrs Barraclough.

"Yes, Detective."

"Mr. Worthington has been taken ill, I have called for an ambulance, could you or your daughter let us know when it arrives?"

"Of course," Mrs Barraclough tried to look round Rae, who moved aside. "He seems to be in good hands. I'll watch out for it myself." She turned around and headed up the hallway.

Rae turned and went back into the room. "Steve, the ambulance is on the way and Mrs Barraclough is looking out for it."

"Ok." Steve had managed to get James to lower his head to his knees, and now he was listening intently to his breathing. Slowly the older man straightened himself up.

"I'm fine now, no need to worry."

"Nonsense, Sir, we'll get you taken to Community General and they can just give you the once over. We'll follow behind you in the car." Rae could hear the siren as she was speaking, but she waited a few seconds longer and Mrs. Barraclough re-entered the room.

"It's here."

Rae and Steve pulled up in Community General's parking lot as the ambulance pulled into its bay. They hurried to the ER so that they could advise the doctor on duty about the reasons for Mr. Worthington's semi collapse.

Mark and Jesse were both by the reception desk when they arrived. Rae walked up to the senior of the two doctors.

"Mark, we have a patient coming in for you to see. He is the widow of the victim in one of our main cases at the moment. He is also a close friend of the Chief. His name is James Worthington. He collapsed while we were talking with him this morning. Could you take a look?"

"Hey, and what's wrong with me?" Jesse pretended to look hurt.

"Nothing that I know of! No, Mark is closer to him in age, I think they'll get along well."

"Sure, sweetie. Do you know what made him collapse, just the stress of what is happening to him or was it something more precise?" As Mark was talking the gurney was being pushed into the ER.

"We have a letter from his wife, he was going to read it, but then this happened. He didn't lose consciousness, at least not while I was in the room. He didn't, did he Steve?"

"No, but he is very shaken up." 

Jesse had walked the gurney into a trauma suite, but he came out now and Mark replaced him. He walked over towards his best friend, and clapped him on the shoulder. "So, buddy, big date tonight, huh?"

"How did you know?"

"You told me last night, remember?"

"Oh, right, Atishoo, Atishoo. Oh, not again."

"Bless you." Rae smiled at her partner.

"Hey I could give you something for that, don't want you sneezing all through your night out!" Jesse gave Steve a wicked grin, but moved a step back.

"If I was taking Rae with me I might take you up on it. I only sneeze when I am with her."

"Rae, Steve?" Mark came out of the trauma room and walked towards them. "I have checked him over, his blood pressure is elevated, and his heart rate is irregular, so I am having him admitted overnight. I also thought that it might be a good idea to have him see the contents of the envelope while he was here. Then if it is a shock, we'll be able to deal with it."

"That would be a good idea, Mark, thank you."

"He also said that he hadn't slept since his wife's death, so I am going to give him something to help him sleep, and hopefully in the morning he'll be able to face his grief a little better. I'll get him settled into a room and then call you, ok?"

"We'll be in the doctor's lounge then, Dad." Steve turned and walked towards the door to the room that was as familiar to him as his own home, and Rae and Jesse followed.

Steve poured himself a coffee and sat on a chair and rested his arms on the table. Jesse and Rae sat together on the sofa, and snuggled up together. "Oh, great, it's cuddly time!" Steve looked at his partner and his best friend, he tried to sound fed up but the affection that he felt for both of them shone in his eyes. "Right, if you can concentrate for a few minutes on the fact that we are both still on duty, you need to call Bob and get those addresses, so that we can have an active afternoon."

"Or even an activist afternoon, right? Sorry, I couldn't resist." She smiled at him and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. 

Jesse walked over and poured himself a coffee as Rae was talking, and looked out into the corridor. He saw a middle aged woman looking about her in a lost way and walked down the hallway towards her.

"Can I help you, ma'am? We have met before, my name is Doctor Travis."

"Oh, yes, Doctor, my employer James Worthington was admitted a little while ago. I have bought his things in for him, but I don't know where to go. 

"Well, if you go back down to the reception desk in the ER they will tell you what room he's in."

"Thank you young man." 

Jesse smiled at her and walked back to the doctor's lounge. Rae was off the phone and she had her head back on the sofa with her eyes shut. Neither of them had got to bed before two this morning, they had had a wonderful evening, but he could tell that it was catching up on her. "Hey, sweetie, I guess it's an early night for you, huh?"

"Mmm, what, oh, yeah, wanna join me?"

"Oh, please!" Before Steve could say anything else, Alex came into the room. 

"Hey, Rae, Steve, Jesse, uh, Mark says that you can go up now, room 782."

"Oh, thanks, Alex, come on, Detective, back to work." Rae stuck her tongue out at him, but she didn't open her eyes. "If we don't get on now, we'll have to eat lunch in the canteen."

"I'm coming, I'm coming. See what a slave driver I have to work with." She walked over and kissed Jesse on the lips and then with a wicked grin on her face she followed Steve out of the room.

James Worthington was sat up in bed in a pair of striped pyjamas when they knocked and received a curt 'enter.' Mrs Barraclough was standing by the closet folding and hanging his clothes for him. Steve and Rae waited until she had finished what she was doing, and then following a nod from Steve, Rae walked over to her.

"We need to speak to Mr. Worthington, alone, ma'am, do you think you could wait outside for just a little while?"

"Of course, I quite understand."

"As soon as we can we'll let you know to come back in."

"Thank you, Detective." With that she left the room, and closed the door behind her.

Rae pulled on her gloves once more and slid the envelope out of her jacket pocket; she put her finger into the top corner and gently and carefully opened it. Inside was a single piece of paper. The writing on the paper was small and neat. She scanned it quickly and slid it into an evidence bag. Then taking a breath she began to speak.

"Mr. Worthington, I am sure that already you have many questions. Before I read this I need to tell you that your wife had been receiving hate mail. Once I have read this letter to you we will try to answer your questions as best we can." James Worthington just nodded, and Rae started to read the letter out loud. 

_My dearest James,_

_If you are reading this letter, then the threats that have been made against me have obviously been carried out. I realise that the knowledge that I was receiving hate mail will come as a shock to you, but I couldn't share my fear with you, the thought of you going through the same things as me was too much to bear._

_I have been receiving this hate mail, one letter a week for just over two months now, and the threats are getting worse each time, I have also been getting at least two phone calls every week as well. I can't go to the police because if I do they have told me that they will kill you, and that is unthinkable._

I am very proud of you, my darling, the work that you have pioneered has saved countless lives. I fear that it won't be able to save mine, but I will not let you down and will never let these bastards think that they have won.

Rae paused. The next piece of the letter was extremely personal. "Mr. Worthington, I will leave the last paragraph for you to read yourself. It has nothing to do with the case, and everything to do with your relationship with your wife." She couldn't say anything else. 

"Thank you, Detective. Do you know I never heard my wife use profanity in all our time together?"

"She was a very brave woman, you must be very proud of her." Rae hoped that the emotion in her voice would not upset him, she walked over to James and handed him the bag. She turned away and moved toward the door, she didn't want to intrude as he read the remainder of the letter, even though she already knew what it said.

"Rae," She turned to see Steve moving over to her. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, I just feel for him, can you imagine getting a letter like that?" She took a deep breath. She felt Steve's hand on her shoulder, and when he spoke his voice was soft.

"Easy, Rae, it's not a task I would have wanted to undertake, you made a good job of reading that out. I'll stay with him if you want to go and see Jess for a while before we have our exciting afternoon."

Rae nodded her head and left the room, she smiled at Mrs. Barraclough as she passed and walked over to the elevator and went down to the ER. Jesse was writing notes up at the reception desk and she moved quietly over to him. She held her finger up to her lips and looked at the nurse on duty, and then she placed her hands over his eyes.

Jesse suddenly found that the world had gone dark. He put his hands over the ones on his eyes and smiled. He knew who it was. He turned his head so that he could see once more and placed a kiss on Rae's lips. "Hey, what are you doing down here, is Mr. Worthington all right?"

"No, not really, but he will be. Steve is staying, I read the letter out to him, and I just needed a change of scene."

"Well, I'm finishing in about ooh, ten minutes, where would you like to go?"

"Home, but I can't I have to interview activists first, remember?"

"Oh, right, hey, I could come with you."

Rae smiled. She would like him to come. Then she stopped. "I'm supposed to be working by the book." 

"Well, I could make sure that you do." Jesse looked at her expectantly.

"I'll see what Steve says, ok? Even if you can't come, you've cheered me up, thanks, sweetheart."

"D'you wanna drink before you go back up?"

"Yes please, I've got time for that." They walked hand in hand towards the Doctor's Lounge, and as they walked in Jesse turned and shut the door.

"Do you have your dress for Saturday yet?"

"Oh! I'd forgotten about that, I'll have to go tomorrow and get one. It's black tie isn't it?"

"Yeah, so I'll get the chance to see you all dressed up and smart for once." Jesse raised his eyebrows then grinned at her and waited.

"And what is wrong with what I have on at the moment?" 

"Gotcha!"

"Apart from the dress I wore last night, this is my best outfit. This won't do then?"

"No, of course not… You are joking, right?"

"Gotcha! You know if Steve's date tonight is a success, maybe he could bring Jo with him." Rae smiled; she really wanted him to be as happy as she was.

Jesse passed her a glass of water, and they sat together on the sofa. "What do you need to know from these guys this afternoon?"

"Well, I think we are pushing our luck, actually, but we need to know where they were when Candi Worthington was murdered, and, we need a fresh sample of their handwriting."

"Ooh, I'm not sure about that, why do you need it?"

"Well, you know the drill, to eliminate them from our enquiries, at least that's what we say in London, but it's true, if their writing doesn't fit the stuff on the wall, and they actually have an honest alibi then we can eliminate them from our enquiries. Oh, I'm going off this by the minute, can't we creep off somewhere and hide for the afternoon."

"No, Rae, you may not!"

"Steve! Don't do that!" 

Steve just smiled at her and got himself a coffee, then he sat down at the table and got his notebook out. "James has fallen asleep now. Apparently, according to dad he hasn't slept since we told him about his wife, I don't think he had any idea about any of the things in that letter." He shook his head. "You know I think it would have been easier for him if the letter said she'd had an affair, or a couple of children hidden away somewhere."

Rae nodded. "I know what you mean, to know that someone you love is suffering, is bad enough, but to find out when you can't do anything to help." Rae stopped and shook her head. She was silent for a moment, they had both known that this was going to be a distressing case, but she hadn't expected to like James Worthington quite so much as a person. _Snap out of it, girl. _"Steve, can Jesse come with us for our activist afternoon?"

"I don't think I could stop him, even if I wanted too. Just don't tell the Chief, ok?"

Jesse was out of his white coat in an instant, he had been on cases with Steve lots of times but he hadn't worked with Steve and Rae before. "I'll just go and sign out, I'll be right back."

Steve smiled at his partner. "You may regret this you know, he gets very… eager!"

Half an hour later Rae and Jesse drew up outside the house of the first suspect of the four that they had to see. As Rae got out of Tom she saw Steve pull up behind her. She smiled at him and walked over to his car. "Right, Jake Harmesworth, 26, painter. We are gonna have to be careful with this, Steve, or we take him in for questioning. What do you think?"

"We'll see how we get on with this guy first, if it is too close to call, we'll get the other three in to the station tomorrow." He put his hand on Rae's shoulder as he saw her begin to speak "I know we are supposed to be off tomorrow, well, we may not be, Rae, sorry."

"As long as I can go and get my dress for Saturday night, I don't mind. Come on let's get on with it."

They walked together up to the door and knocked. They waited and listened, but the house was silent. "What kind of painter is he?" Jesse looked at the piece of paper in Rae's hand. "House painter or artist? Only if he is an artist, wouldn't he have a studio, maybe round back?" He smiled at them expectantly and waited.

"I'll just take a look round the back then, shall I?" Rae looked at Steve who nodded. She walked slowly and quietly round to the side of the house. She could see what she would have called a hut halfway down the garden _I think they call it a yard,_ so she moved back toward Steve and Jesse and waved them over. "Does that look like a studio to you?" 

"Yeah, d'you want me to go first?" Steve moved in front of her as he spoke, so she slid in behind him and watched him as he slowly walked up to it. 

Steve knocked on the door, and called out, "Mr. Harmesworth, this is Lieutenant Sloan, may I have a word with you?" This time they could hear some noise from inside the hut and the door opened slowly.

"What?" A tall, thin young man with a black beard stood in the doorway. He was wearing paint covered jeans and a sweater of a beige wool. He had a paintbrush in his right hand and a scowl on his face.

"Would it be possible to speak to you either in your studio or your house please, Sir?" Steve decided that a little grovelling might help.

"Why? I answered all your questions at the station, I have nothing more to say."

"Mr. Harmesworth, we can ask you the questions here, or at the station again, it really doesn't make any difference to us." As Steve said 'us' the artist looked around and saw Rae and Jesse standing just a little way behind Steve. "That is my partner, Detective Yeager."

"Well then, I guess I'd better get my coat and my lawyer's telephone number." The man disappeared inside the hut and Steve followed him.

Inside the whole room was either covered with paintings or paint. Steve looked around, he had no idea about styles of art, but this was definitely not his style. The canvases were big and it looked as if Jake Harmesworth had picked up the paint and just thrown it at them. 

"Do you sell a lot of these then?" Steve couldn't imagine anybody actually wanting to pay good money for them.

"Yeah, what's it to you, you work for the IRS on the side?" 

_Oh, great, we are in for a wow of an afternoon!_ Steve glared at the young man before him, "Would you like to call your lawyer from here, or at the station? If you answer our questions now we can save you the fee and the cost of the call."

Jake Harmesworth glared back at Steve and without another word picked up a battered corduroy jacket. As he shrugged it on Steve noticed a small badge with a droplet of blood and a rabbit head on it. "Come on, let's go. Is your car parked out front?"

"No, Lieutenant, I don't have a car, they are bad for the environment. I walk where ever I need to go, or use my bicycle."

"I see, well I'm afraid, Sir, that this time you will have to come with me in my car."

Rae and Jesse stood silently and waited for Steve and his companion to reappear. Then they followed them back to the waiting cars. Rae watched Harmesworth walk over to Steve's car and then followed them over. She put her hand on his shoulder. "Steve, you didn't arrest him did you?"

"What? No, Rae, he doesn't have a car." Steve turned to her and raised his eyes to the heavens.

 "Oh, I see." She thought a minute. "Jess, can you drive Tom back for me? I'll travel with Steve, I don't think he should take him back on his own."

"Yeah, no problem, I'll meet you at the station." Rae threw him the keys and walked over to Steve's car. Before she got into the front she put a call through to Bob and asked him to contact the other three people on the list and get them to come into the station, then she got into the car as Steve put the activist into the back.

When they arrived at the station they headed for the same interview room where Neville Grump had taken Martin Robertson hostage. They sat down and Steve looked over at the young man. "Do you want to call your lawyer now?"

"What? No, not yet, I'll wait." 

Steve just nodded.  He began to read him his rights.

"Hey, man, you didn't say anything about arresting me." 

"I'm not arresting you, but I am asking you questions that are pertinent to a murder enquiry, so I am required to read you your rights."

Rae had her notebook out in front of her, and the interview was being recorded. 

"So, what is so important that you have to read me my rights before you ask me." Jake Harmesworth sounded very confident, and Rae had a feeling that this was not going to go, as they wanted it too.

"Ok, Mr. Harmesworth, we are investigating a murder that took place on Monday night at approximately eleven pm. Could you please tell me what you were doing for around an hour to two hours before and after that time?" Steve paused, he half expected the man to just say 'no'. Instead a smile flashed across the face of the activist and was gone in an instant. 

"Monday night? This Monday night, just gone?" Jake Harmesworth sat and waited for a reply.

"Yes, Mr. Harmesworth, between nine pm this Monday night and one am this Tuesday morning."

The smile re-appeared and this time it stayed. "I was at a meeting, in Van Nuys, there were about 200 people there." 

"And you were recognisable how?" Rae knew that she was walking into this man's trap, but she could see no way to avoid it.

"I was a speaker, officer, I talked about animal testing and police brutality for just over half an hour."

"And what time did you start to talk?" _Keep going, girl, you are only in up to your neck at the moment._

"Just before ten. I was the last speaker. So, can I go now?"

"Ah, no, Mr. Harmesworth, not just yet, could you please provide us with a sample of your handwriting, just to eliminate it from our enquiries."

"My handwriting, why?" Rae couldn't put her finger on it, but somehow Harmesworth's indignant tone didn't ring true. Once again she was left with the feeling that this was wrong, but she didn't know why.

"We need to see a copy of your handwriting so that we can compare it to some that we already have." Steve didn't want to tell him who had been murdered, but he had a feeling that he didn't need to. It seemed to him that Jake Harmesworth knew exactly who had been killed, whether or not he had had anything to do with it.

"Lieutenant, I will contact my lawyer now, if you would be so kind as to provide me with a phone. If he says so I will let you see my handwriting."

It was ten minutes before Jake Harmesworth decided to write what it was that Steve wanted him to note down. After he had written 'How do you like it' with both his right and left hands Steve terminated the interview.

They walked slowly back to the squad room and Rae walked over to Jesse who was sitting at her desk. "Hi, sweetie, I'm sorry, this hasn't turned out quite like we planned, you were right. The other three guys are going to come here to be interviewed, and I'll bet they just can't possibly come until tomorrow at the earliest."

"Well, you could always go down to Bob and find out, couldn't you?" Steve's tone was dry, as he spoke to her on his way to his own desk.

Rae stuck her tongue out at Steve, but she turned towards the door again. "Ok, I'll be back in a minute." 

Rae walked off down to the main reception and Steve got himself and Jesse a coffee. Then he sat down and leant back in his chair, stretching his legs out under the desk. "I just thought I didn't have any lunch. Still price it's gonna cost me for dinner, it's just as well."

"Why, where are you going?" Jesse looked at his friend, he looked ready for a good sleep, not a night on the town.

"Musso and Frank's." 

"Ooh, and you've been saving up for how long? Wow, Steve, I hope she's worth it."

"Yeah, you and me both, buddy, you and me both."

Rae walked back into the room with a look of resignation on her face. "These activists seem to make a point of being difficult creatures. One of them is coming in for ten in the morning, another for three in the afternoon, and the third for eleven on Saturday. We are being taken for a serious ride here guys."

Steve and Jesse both nodded, they agreed with her. "But what can you do, Rae, you don't have anything to hold them on right?"

"No, Jess, not a thing. Steve, it's almost six o'clock, I haven't had any lunch, and I am seriously fed up, please may I go home?"

"Yeah, go on, I'll see you tomorrow morning, about half past nine sound ok to you?"

"No, it's my day off, but I don't have any choice in the matter, so yes, that will do." Rae checked her desk and then took Jesse by the hand, as they walked out of the squad room she turned, "Hey, have a great time tonight."

Steve smiled; he had a feeling he would. It was another quarter of an hour before he left the station and climbed into his car. He drove slowly back to the beach house through a constant drizzle. He arrived home just as the rain increased and headed for his apartment at a run. As he went down the stairs he heard a sound up in his dad's part of the house and wandered up there instead.

Mark and Amanda were sitting at the table by the door to the deck with a large jigsaw puzzle out in front of them. "Hey, Dad, Amanda, I thought you had gotten over your jigsaw phase."

Amanda smiled at him, "So did I, but apparently this is impossible to do, and you know how your father gets when someone tells him something is impossible."

Steve picked up a piece of jigsaw and looked at it. Then he turned it over. "It has picture on both sides."

"I know, and there is no picture on the front of the box. You know I could go to the dentist if I wanted this much fun on an afternoon off." Amanda took the piece back and looked at it, both ways, then she shrugged and put it back down on the table.

"Well, I have a date tonight, so I am gonna go and shut my eyes for an hour and then get ready. See you guys."

"Want me to call you, son?" Mark asked, concern and love shining in his eyes.

"Yeah, Dad, you could, otherwise I may just sleep all night!" _Which would be a whole lot cheaper, but not as much fun!_ He went back down the stairs, undoing his shirt as he went, he balled it up and threw it into the laundry basket, slipped out of his jeans and climbed onto the bed. The next thing he knew there was a hand on his shoulder.

"Steve, you've had an hour."

"Dad? What?"

"You've had an hour, you don't want to keep the young lady waiting." Mark smiled at him.

"Ok, thanks, Dad. It's a good job you woke me, I don't think I would have gotten up on my own." Steve stretched as his father left the room and headed for the shower. He stood under the cold water and came back to life. Then he went and searched out his best suit and started to get ready.

Across town Jo was staring into her closet and humming to herself. She couldn't decide what to wear. On her bed were three dresses and she had another two slung over her arm. She dropped them onto the bed and began to hold them up to herself one at a time in front of the mirror. In the end she decided that simplicity was best and chose a simple but beautifully cut, black velvet, sleeveless knee length dress with a square neckline.

Next she picked out a pair of black court shoes, patent leather one side and suede the other. They had three-inch heels, but Steve was tall, she liked to make eye contact with her men. As she headed for the shower she realised that she was really looking forward to tonight.

The water was hot on her body as she stood and let it beat down on her back. She washed her hair then she picked up her bathrobe and wandered back into her bedroom in search of the hairdryer. As she towelled out the excess water she decided that she would just dry it as it was and let the curls show. She had a feeling that Steve would like it that way.

Just as the clock in his living area hit seven o'clock Steve called out to his Dad and Amanda that he was leaving and walked out to his car. The rain had stopped and the air was fresh. He drew out into traffic and began to sing along to his cd.

It was half past seven when Jo took one final look at herself in the mirror and made for the door. She called out as she opened it. "I'll be back around midnight, Michael, you don't need to wait up." Then she shut the door and headed for the garage.

It was just after five to eight when Steve paid his $2 and parked his car in the lot behind the restaurant. He looked around for Jo's jeep but couldn't see it. He walked over to the back door of the famous restaurant and walked inside.

The place just smelt of Hollywood history. Steve could easily imagine Raymond Chandler sitting in one of the booths writing 'The Big Sleep' while the world went on around him. A middle-aged man wearing a jacket that matched the red leather seats walked up to him. "May I help you, Sir?"

"Yes, I'm waiting for someone, we have a reservation in the name of Walters?"

"Oh, of course, Sir, won't you come this way." Steve looked around him as he was led to his booth. The place was almost full already. He couldn't see anybody famous, but then, he wasn't here for that, not really. "If you would like to take a seat, Sir, can I get you a drink while you wait?"

"Ah, yes, just a mineral water please, and could you check that my order was received this afternoon, in the name of Sloan." Steve leant back in his seat.

"Of course, Sir. With ice and lemon, Sir?"

"That would be great, thank you." Once again he looked around. This really was quite a place. He had heard about it, but had never been here. Everybody had heard about Musso and Frank's, the oldest restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard. His waiter brought over his drink and quietly put it down on the table, and then moved away. Steve checked his watch, it was just after eight. As he sat there his mind began to wander back to the day he had had. He saw James Worthington's face as Rae had been reading out the letter. She had never lifted her eyes from the page, so hadn't seen the fists clenched on the top of the bed covers, or the constant movement of his jaw as he tried and failed to relax just a little as she read to him.

"Steve." 

He felt a hand on his arm and looked up into the beautiful face of Jo Walters. He stood up and mumbled an apology.

"Never mind, you looked miles away, don't worry I won't ask, I know you won't be able to tell me." Steve smiled at her as she sat down opposite him in the discreetly placed booth.

"Can I get you a drink, Madam?"

"Yes please, I'll have a dry martini, Steve?" She looked over at him. "They are wonderful here, so I've been told. Could you make that two?" The waiter looked at Steve and he nodded. 

"Certainly, Madam." The waiter walked away but was soon back with their drinks, and a basket of sourdough rolls, then he quietly disappeared leaving them alone.

"Jo, you look beautiful, I… I love your hair." He felt himself blush and looked away.

"Why thank you. They drive me nuts, but sometimes I go for the curly look."

"So, why Musso and Frank's? Oh, I know you wanted to be a tourist, but I can think of all sorts of places we could have gone. Are you a movie buff, or a Bogart fan, what is it about this place?"

"Oh, I love Bogart movies, an' I have been meanin' to come here ever since I arrived in Los Angeles, but it's not the sort of place to come to on your own, you need to share it. I thought it would be nice to share with you. Although you livin' here an' all I expect you've been here lots of times."

"Oh, I see. No, I've never been here."

"Really? Oh, I'm so glad, I had been worryin' that you would be bored."

"No, not with you to talk to. So, I guess we'd better order. I read a couple of reviews of this place, most loved it, but one did say that the service could be a little slow." Steve picked up a piece of the sourdough and took a bite. "Mind you this is delicious just on it's own."

Steve raised his hand and their waiter came across. "Could we have the menus now please?"

"Certainly, Sir, I will be right back."

They sat looking at their menus for quite a while. "So, Jo, what do you think you are going to have?"

"Well I'm gonna try the shrimp cocktail an' then the oyster stew, I always seem to go for meat, so tonight I'm gonna have a fish night."

"Mmm. Ok," Steve looked down the menu again. He couldn't believe that he could come to such an expensive restaurant and get Welsh Rarebit.  "Well, if you are going to go for something different, I guess I'll have to be brave and adventurous too. So I'll have the shrimp, and the Okra Chicken Chowder."

Their waiter didn't return for ten minutes, but the time seemed to fly. The shrimp cocktails had come and gone before the conversation slowed.

When the main courses were placed on the table Steve looked at his with a little trepidation. He had never had okra before, and he wasn't sure that he should have it now. "Ok, here goes nothing."

Jo watched with amusement as he put a spoon full of his meal into his mouth. The chicken and okra seemed wonderful to her as the smell wafted her way. As Steve began to eat she laughed out loud as he tried to repress a shudder.

"Would you like me to swap with you? I just love okra, an' I think you are havin' a slight problem with it."

"No, no, I'm fine." Steve swallowed and then smiled. "It tastes great, but it's a bit … slimy. No, you enjoy your stew, and I will be ok."

They ate quietly for a while and then Jo looked up. "Steve, I have to ask, how is James? I tried to call his house, but I just get the answerin' service. I don't want details, I'm just worried about him."

"He'll be all right, but it will take a while. You know, I like him, he seems like a decent honest man."

"Oh, he is, he's a gentleman, an' there are precious few of them left these days."  She smiled at him across the booth and moved her hand towards the middle of the table.

As Steve watched her, his mind raced; he felt so at ease with her. He saw her hand as she placed it nearer to him and he put his own over it. It felt warm, smooth and somehow so right to be holding it. He smiled back at her and catching the waiters eye nodded discreetly at him. 

He walked over to them, "Would you like to order your dessert now, Madam, Sir?"

"Oh, yes please."

Their waiter handed them the dessert menus but Jo looked up at the waiter, "I would like the chocolate gateau please, Steve, the same?"

"Ah, no, I'll have the baked caramel custard, thank you." Steve was delighted to realise that when the waiter had come over she hadn't moved her hand.

"Certainly, Sir, Madam."

The man moved discreetly away and Steve looked around, the service had been good, he was pleased that it hadn't spoilt the evening.

"I am so glad that you suggested this, it's a great place. We could almost be the only people here, I like the booths, maybe I should get them in at Bob's."

"I don't think you would have room for more than about three of these things, an' I think that might cut your profits some!"

"Yeah, you could be right." Steve looked round as he saw their waiter coming back with their desserts and another waiter walking behind him with a small bouquet of flowers.

As Jo's chocolate gateau was put in front of her the second waiter handed her the flowers. There were freesias and small carnations and also two tight yellow bud roses. Jo looked up in amazement and saw Steve with a big smile on his face. She took the card and read it.

To a lovely lady, I'm so glad we took our chances, Love Steve 

The waiter had put Steve's dessert down and tactfully retired. Jo stood up and leant over the table, she kissed Steve fleetingly on the lips and then sat back down again. "Thank you Steve, they're beautiful." 

The table was silent as they both ate their dessert. Jo looked around and then gave Steve a mouthful of her chocolate gateau. "An' I don't do that for everyone, my main vice is chocolate, I just love it!"

Steve returned the favour with his baked custard, which he had to admit he preferred. A few minutes later they both put their cutlery down and smiled across at each other. "So, would you like coffee?" Steve went to signal for the waiter.

"Actually, I don't think I will. It keeps me awake. But you go right ahead."

Steve ordered his coffee and then he took a deep breath.  "Jo, I'm going to a fundraising ball for my father's hospital on Saturday night, would you come with me? It's a black tie affair, so if that's a problem…"

"Why thank you, Steve, I would love to come. But tell me, what would have happened if I'd said no?"

"I would have gone on my own." _And it wouldn't have been the first time, either._

"Well, we can't have that can we? I would be honoured, Sir. Maybe you could pick me up at, say eight?"

"Of course. Where would you like me to pick you up from?"

" 39405 North Crescent Drive, Beverley Hills." Jo smiled at him.

"You live in Beverley Hills? Ok, I'll be there about eight then… Thank you." Steve smiled at their waiter as he placed a coffee in front of him.

"I do, where do you live? Obviously not Beverley Hills."

"No, I live in Malibu, on the beach."

"I guess you don't mean actually on the beach?" Jo smiled and then laughed. "Or maybe you do, how else would a cop be able to afford to live in Malibu?" Steve saw her wink as she spoke.

"Or a secretary live in Beverley Hills?" Steve returned her comment and grinned at her.

"I inherited my house from my grandmamma, she left it to me about…" Steve could see her working things out. "Three years ago. I only came here about eighteen months ago though, an' I love it. It's a beautiful old house, an' it has so many memories." Jo stopped talking and smiled. Then she giggled and looked at him. "Sorry, I guess I'm just a home person. Anyway, how does a cop afford to live at Malibu – beachside, not landside?"

"I share the house with my father. He lives in the upstairs apartment, and I live in the downstairs one. I have lived in the house since I was eleven, so I know what you mean about memories…" Steve stopped talking for a minute. "We thought we were going to lose it during the last bad fire in the hills, it came real close, but we're still there."

"My God, that would be terrible. I can't imagine losin' my home, or the possessions I have there."

"Hey, come on, how did we get on to this? Smile." Steve took her hand in his and she felt him squeeze it gently.

"I've had a great time tonight, Jo, but I think we ought to be getting back, it's half past ten already, and they shut here at eleven." Steve put his hand up a little and his waiter returned. "Could I have the check please?"

"There is no need, Sir, it has already been taken care of."

"What?" Steve looked around, but the waiter had melted away. "Jo?"

"Steve, this was my suggestion, I know it is an expensive place, an' I just paid the bill when I booked."

"Jo, no. I should at least pay some of it."

"Hey, leave it be, ok? Don't spoil it. I'll find something else expensive for you to pay for another time, I like to do expensive every now an' again." 

She stood up then, and Steve knew that the conversation was over. He liked her, very much, but he didn't like having decisions made for him. But now wasn't the time to tell her. As they left Steve left a $20 bill on the table, and hoped that it would be enough. 

They walked over to where the coats were kept and the waiter handed Jo a black stole. Steve put his arm around her and they walked together out into the parking lot. He could see her jeep and steered her gently over to it. As they got there she turned to face him.

"I had a lovely time tonight, Steve, an' I am lookin' forward to Saturday. Will I get to meet your daddy then?"

"Yes, he'll be there, Jesse and Rae, and my other friend Amanda with her date. We have a table for eight."

"That will be lovely." Jo put her hand up to his face and gently pulled him towards her. She kissed him gently on the lips, and they moved closer together. Slowly Steve felt her tongue begin to probe into his mouth and he responded immediately. For a few minutes they could have been anywhere in the world, because nothing else mattered but the two of them. Jo could feel Steve's hands as he ran his fingers through her curls and she held him close in her arms. Gradually they moved away from each other. "I… guess I had better be goin'. Thank you Steve for a lovely night. I'll see you on Saturday, 39405 North Crescent Drive, remember?"

"I don't think I can remember my own name after that kiss, but yeah, I'll be there." He leant over her and began to kiss her once again. Her hair felt silky as he moved his fingers through it yet again, and he could feel her hands running over his back.

"Steve," she pulled herself back, "I have to go, honey. It's gettin' late, an' I am goin' into the office tomorrow."

"Ok, but I won't let you leave so easily on Saturday night!"

"I hope that's a promise." Jo kissed him on the cheek, and then she got into her car. Steve stood in the parking lot a smile on his face until Jo's tail lights had disappeared, then he turned and walked over to his own car and headed back to his house full of memories and love, in Malibu.


	5. Chapter 5 The Courtship Dance of the Ton...

The Courtship Dance of the Tongue - Tied Doctor

Rae and Jesse had set the alarm for seven. As it went off Rae heard the mail thud onto the mat in the living area. Jesse groaned and flailed his arm around until it came into contact with the ringing monster on the nightstand. "Shut up!"

"And good morning to you too! Are we feeling a little grumpy this morning?" Rae leant over and kissed Jesse on the nose. He put his hand up and pulled her down towards him and kissed her on the lips. She relaxed against him and shut her eyes as she felt his arms go round her. 

As he moved away from her a few minutes later he smiled. "I'm better now! D'you fancy a run before you go to work?"

"No, not really, but I haven't been on one for about a week, so I will suffer and say yes."

Fifteen minutes later they were pounding their way down a quiet residential street, they took it in turns to run ahead in a burst of speed and then jog while the other one caught up. After twenty minutes Jesse slowed down and turned to Rae. "Time to turn around and head back, I think. Don't want to tire you out!"

Rae stuck her tongue out at him and they slowly jogged across the road and back the way they had come. They headed to their own apartments and a shower each, then Rae fed Kira and went into Jesse's place for breakfast.

"So, what time do you have to start today?" Jesse was making coffee as he spoke and had his back to her.

Rae walked over and put her arms around his waist. "I'll be leaving in about twenty minutes. We only have three activists left to see. The ones who broke into Worthington Laboratories were held overnight, so it couldn't be them. The first one is coming in for ten o'clock; although I get the feeling that it's going to be a waste of time. I don't know what I was thinking about, but we don't have a copy of their handwriting, only their signatures, so all four of them have to be re-interviewed."

"But you haven't got anything else to do all day have you?" Jesse half turned in her arms and felt her tighten her muscles around his waist. "Hey, I surrender, I take it back."

"Good. This is supposed to be my day off remember? I just know it's going to be a waste of time."

"You just said that. Ow!"

"I know, Jess, but they're telling us what they want us to know, and have got alibi's to back it up. Trouble is, I don't believe a word of it. The guy we saw yesterday was at a meeting; I would put money on the other three being at the same meeting. If other people say they saw them there, there is nothing we can do. If we find out at a later date that they did have something to do with Candi Worthington's death, I think Steve'll blow a fuse."

"What about your dress, will you have a chance to go shopping? Hey, I think Amanda's going to get hers this afternoon, maybe you could go with her."

"I'll give her a call then, and see."

Ten minutes later Rae was ready to go to work. It was half past eight, she had arranged with Amanda to meet her at eleven thirty and they were going to go out for a couple of hours before Rae had to get back for her second interview at three. She felt happy and relaxed as she walked up the steps and into the squad room. Her mood improved even more when she saw Steve greet her with a smile and a cup of tea.

"Hey, partner, how are you? I hope you're feeling as good as I am."

"You had a good night then?"

Steve grinned. "Oh, yeah. I hope you don't mind, but I asked her to the dance on Saturday night."

"No, Steve, I'm glad. Of course I don't mind, in fact I suggested it to Jesse. I wonder who Amanda is going to bring."

"Ah, that would be me."

Rae spun round and came face-to-face _Well, if I look up and he looks down _with a tall good-looking man holding an FBI ID up.

"Ron! Hey, man, long time no see. Are you really here for the ball?" Steve held out his hand to his friend.

"No, but when I talked to Amanda last night, she told me about it, and, well, it's been a long time since I've been here, so I guess I owe her."

"And somebody is going to introduce me when?" Rae looked at both men and waited.

"I'm sorry. Detective **Inspector** Reagan Yeager, this is Agent Ron Wagner, FBI. Agent Ron Wagner, this is Detective **Inspector** Reagan Yeager, Scotland Yard." 

Rae gave Steve a sarcastic smile and then turned it into a welcoming one, held her hand out and said, "Hi, how do you do?"

"Ah, fine thanks. What happened to Cheryl?"

"She's in London for twelve months, and Rae is here."

"Rae?"

"You can call me Reagan if you like, Agent Wagner, but I may be forced to kill you!"

"Oh, I bet she's keeping you on your toes, Sloan. I like her!"

"Yeah, right. So, if you aren't here for the ball, what are you here for?"

"Animal rights activists."

"You haven't come to take them off our hands have you?" Rae looked at him hopefully.

"No, ma'am, just the opposite. You can keep 'em, I just want your information."

"Yeah, that sounds like the Feds. Why do you want our information, did your paper cups and string break?" Steve grinned, Ron could drive him nuts, but he enjoyed working with him.

"Ha, ha. No, Worthington Laboratories does work for the government, so I just need to find out what you know, and make sure that the information on the federal contracts hasn't been compromised."

"Why, what were they researching?" Rae looked over at him, and wondered what he had in common with Amanda. He seemed very rigid.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to disclose that information, Detective Inspector Yeager."

"Oh, for goodness sake. We have to give you everything that we have, but you aren't gonna give us squat. You should get in touch with MI5 or 6, they would just love you."

"I worked in London for six months, we are way nicer than they are." 

As Rae went to make a cutting reply her phone rang. "Detective Yeager." Her tone softened instantly, "Hey, sweetie… no that's not a problem, do you want one that's ready made, or one you do yourself…? Oh, ok. I'll see you later then… Yeah, I love you too. Bye." Rae wrote herself a note and slid it into the pocket of her jeans, and then she turned back to the two men who were now standing by Steve's desk.

"Sorry about that."

"No problem." Steve smiled at her.

Rae checked her watch. "I guess our first little green man will be here in about thirty minutes. I'm just going to give Community General a ring to see how James is this morning."

Rae turned back to her desk and Ron smiled at Steve. "So, how is she as a partner? LA is hardly London is it?"

"No, it's not, and she hasn't had an easy time since she got here, but she's a good cop, and I enjoy working with her. I'm gonna really miss her when she goes home."

"Oh, yeah, in what way." Ron grinned at him.

"What? … Oh no, not in that way. Jesse'd kill me."

"Who? Oh, the guy on the phone was Jesse Travis? So I guess they'll be there tomorrow night as well as your dad, and whoever you are taking."

"Are you fishing, Wagner, trying to find out whether I have a date or not? Well, yes I do, a young lady called Jo, but it will only be our third date, so back off a bit, ok?"

"Steve, James was discharged about ten minutes ago, the nurse that I spoke to said that he left a message asking one of us to contact him some time after eleven this morning. I won't be here, so could you do that?"

"Yeah, sure… Morning, Bob, what can I do for you?" Steve turned to the desk sergeant who was walking across the room.

"Your appointment is here, Steve. Richard Crisp, 23, animal rights activist and saviour of the world, with his lawyer, Daniel Smallwood. I've put them in interview room 4."

"I bet they were hoping that we wouldn't be here yet." Rae ran her fingers through her hair. She thought for a minute and then smiled. "I'm sorry, Steve, I don't know why I am so negative about this. Yeah, I do. I keep seeing that poor woman, and then hearing Harmesworth yesterday, they've got us on a string, and that bugs me. Sorry."

"Rae, it bugs me too, but we just have to go with it. Come on. Ron are you coming in, or are you going to peer at us from the observation room?"

"I will 'peer' as you put it. I'll see you back in here when you've finished." They went their separate ways and Rae and Steve entered the interview room.

The lawyer stood as they entered, but Rae noticed that the other occupant of the room didn't even look up.

"Mr. Smallwood, I am Lieutenant Sloan, this is Detective Yeager. Thank you for coming in." Once all the formalities were concluded Steve turned to the young activist. "What do you do for a living Mr. Crisp?"

"I work at a convenience store, why?" Richard Crisp spoke for the first time. He had a high squeaky voice, and he suddenly sounded much younger than he looked.

"I was just interested." Steve smiled at him and hoped that this would be a fruitful interview.  "I would like to know where you were on Monday night, that would be the Monday of this week.

"Monday night, I attended a meeting." 

"What time did your meeting start and finish Mr. Crisp?"

"It was my turn to set the room up so I got there just after half past seven. I had to put out the chairs."

"What time did the meeting finish?" Steve was talking quietly, and Rae had a feeling that he was sitting on his temper, just as she was.

"I left at a quarter to eleven, after the final speaker. I had done my duty with the chairs, I didn't want to get roped in to putting them away too." Crisp was talking pleasantly, it was clear to them both that he wasn't at all worried about being questioned.

"Do you have anybody who can confirm that you were at this meeting?" Rae decided that it was time that she joined in this conversation.

"There were 200 people there, Detective." The man's voice was suddenly dripping with insincerity, and he lolled back in his seat. Rae had a strong urge to kick the legs out from under him.

"Is there anyone that we can contact who will confirm that you were at this meeting, Mr. Crisp?" Steve kept his voice light as he asked his question.

"Well, I was there with my girlfriend, will she do?"

"Maybe, if you can provide another name or two as well." 

"I can give you a list of about fifteen to twenty people who were there, Detective, if you can give me a piece of paper and a pen I will write it down for you."

"Thank you, Sir.  After you left the meeting, what did you do then?" Steve passed over the paper and pen as he spoke.

"I took Rosie home, I left her house at about twenty past eleven and I got to mine just after one."

"You live a long way apart then?"

"No, Lieutenant, but I was pedalling a tandem, and it's hard work on your own."

"A what?" Steve looked puzzled.

"It's a bicycle for two people."

Steve looked over to the mirror on the other side of the room and wondered what Ron was making of all this. "While you have the pen and paper, Sir, could you please write down the following words?"

"And why do you require this, Lieutenant?" It was the first time that Mr. Smallwood had spoken since the interview had begun. Rae realised that both Steve and herself had deliberately been on their best behaviour this morning. 

"To eliminate your client from our enquiries, Councillor."  Steve looked over at the lawyer with a smile on his face.

"It's fine, Mr. Smallwood, I don't mind at all."

Richard Crisp's writing was similar to Rae's daughter Mara's. It was very childish, and large. "Could you write it with your other hand now please, Mr. Crisp?" The other hand was worse.

Rae stood up. "Thank you, Mr. Crisp, Mr. Smallwood. If you could leave us your card, Councillor, and, Mr. Crisp, could you let us have a contact number and I would be obliged if you could let us know if you have any plans to travel outside L.A. in the next few weeks." Once she had the information she needed Rae walked over and opened the door, and the lawyer and the activist headed off down the hallway.

Rae moved back into the room, "'I was pedalling a tandem, and it's hard work on your own.' Give me strength!" She kicked the chair that Crisp had been using; somehow it didn't make her feel any better now that he wasn't sitting in it. "Uugh. I need to get my temper sorted out before I go shopping, or I'll be turning up tomorrow night wearing a rubbish bag!" She turned away from Steve and walked angrily out of the interview room.

Ron left the observation room just in time to see Rae storm across to her desk. He turned to Steve "Maybe he became a nasty lawyer to compensate for his other shortcomings, it was either that or change his name I guess."

Steve laughed and Rae turned back to them with a confused look on her face. "And you have no idea what we are talking about do you, Rae?" Steve was clearly enjoying the situation. 

"Nope, not a clue, care to enlighten me?"

"I don't think you want to know."

"I might … Oh, right, no… way too much information, thank you, Lieutenant." Rae was mortified to feel herself begin to blush and turned quickly away from of the laughter of the two friends and headed for her phone. She picked it up and punched in a number. "Dr. Amanda Bentley please…yes I'll hold… Amanda? Hi it's me… Yeah, I'm ready now; I'll meet you at the mall… Yeah, he's here, do you want to speak to him? … Hold on, Agent Wagner, phone." She held the receiver out and Ron walked across the room.

"Hello…? Oh, hi, honey… No I didn't know who she was talking too… Yeah, probably all day… I'll see you later… Bye." Ron held the receiver up and looked across at Rae and she shook her head. He put the phone down and turned to her. "So you're going shopping with Amanda?"

"Yes, right now as a matter of fact. I'll see you later, Steve, Agent Wagner." Rae turned and left the room.

"D'you think she'll ever call me Ron?"

"Oh, yeah, but you'll have to tell her to. She called me Sir for so long I thought I was gonna brain her."

"Yeah, but she's British right, terribly polite don't you know?" Ron's accent was almost passable as English.

Rae drew up into a parking space and walked into the mall. She saw the shop that she had arranged to meet Amanda in and headed for it. She could see her friend looking through a rack of beautiful dresses and wandered up to her. "Hi, found anything that you like yet?"

"Quite a few actually, but none of them suitable for tomorrow night. What were you thinking of wearing?"

"Well, I have never been to one of these things before, and I don't want to let Jesse down, so I thought I would go for something classic, maybe not black, but not bright either. What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me. Do you have a price range?"

"Yeah, cheap! Amanda, I have no idea how much a dress of that kind will cost, so I'm gonna worry about that when I find something I like."

The next hour seemed to fly by. They spent it either laughing, groaning, or sometimes enthusing, as they tried dresses on and then either discarded them or tried to make a mental note of where they had seen them so they could come back later. Rae remembered to get Jesse's new bow tie for him, and she got a cummerbund to match it, as she had been trying on mainly blue she got him a dark blue set. Rae didn't think she would ever forget the look on Amanda's face as she had come out of the changing room in a black dress, which had a flouncy layer over the top and a diamante pattern on it. She looked like depressed fairy and she could hardly take it back off she was laughing so much. 

The tables were turned when Amanda had tried on a halter necked dress, which was graduated from light coffee at the top to dark coffee at the bottom. 

"Oh, no, Amanda, no, you can't wear that!" Rae covered her mouth with her hand, her normally elegant friend looked suddenly ordinary.

"Why ever not? I just love the colour."

"You'll look like you stood in a puddle on the way in and the dress soaked up all the muddy water. It looks grubby. Sorry, but no way. Ron may be the strong silent type, but I think even he may have something to say about that!"

Amanda gave Rae a glare, but she went and changed. As they headed back towards the stores that had their favourite dresses in she brought the subject up again. "What did you mean by Ron being the strong silent type?"

"Sorry, it was just my first impression of him. I mean Jesse's so outgoing and chatty, Steve made me feel at ease straight away, but I can't read Ron. He doesn't give anything away does he?"

"No, I guess not, and I must admit we had a mutual hate society there for a while when we first met." Amanda smiled as she remembered their first meeting. Ron was about the only good thing that had happened at that time in her life.

"When did you meet? I got the feeling that he didn't work in LA."

"No, he works out of Quantico, but he was sent here to investigate a plane crash. I was on the recovery team, we met then."

"Wow, that must have been a harrowing time for you. Still nice ending. Ooh, this is your store isn't it?"

"Mm, yeah, come on, I feel my plastic calling." 

Amanda paid for her dress, which was a deep metallic gold. It was perfectly plain and straight at the front, but it had a high neck, long sleeves and no back. Rae loved it and would have been delighted to wear it herself, but when she tried it on, she found that she couldn't cope with the fabric around her neck. _Still that woman is in my life, I guess I'll just have to learn to live with it._

Rae's dress was still hanging on the rail when they arrived at their final stop. It was dark blue, but it had no high neck, in fact the neckline was quite low and the sleeves were just small pleated straps, which went over her upper arms. It was tight fitting until just before it reached her knees and then there were kick panels to make it easier to walk. On the back of the dress there was a larger kick panel, which started just below the waist and trailed along the ground slightly when Rae walked. It was a beautiful dress, and she hoped that everybody would like it as much as she did.

"What about shoes, Rae, I don't think I have ever seen you in anything but sneakers."

"Oh, yeah, that's true. What time is it?" Rae looked at her watch. "Half past one. I guess I'd better have a quick squiz in a few shoe stores."

"A quick what?"

"A quick squiz, a quick look. Black would be best wouldn't it. I would have more use for them. Do you have time, or would you rather get back to work?"

"Well, if you don't mind, I think I'd better. I'll see you tomorrow at the activity afternoon. I am looking forward to dunking Steve."

Rae smiled, "So am I! Ok, I'll see you there then. Oh, and Amanda, thank you for this morning, I really enjoyed myself."

Amanda smiled back and waved as she wandered off towards the exit. Rae turned and headed towards a shoe store that she could see half way down the mall.

Rae checked the shoes in the window, and decided that she liked most of them, so she went in and started to look around. She finally found a pair of black patent leather court shoes, which weren't too high. She didn't want to be taller than Jesse. After she had paid for them she began to walk back towards her car. As she passed a children's clothes store she heard a cry.

"No, stop, help, that man took my purse."

Rae turned and saw a woman with a buggy pointing to a young man who was running straight at her. She dropped her bags on the floor and launched herself at him. She slammed him to the floor and sat on him.

"Get off me." The man was squirming under Rae and she was having trouble staying on top of him.

"And I suppose that this purse is just the right colour to match your outfit." 

The young woman came running over pushing the buggy in front of her. "Oh, thank you, thank you so much." She took her cell phone out of her pocket. "Would you like me to call the cops for you?"

"No, that's all right ma'am, I am the police." Rae took the cuffs from the back of her belt and put them on the still struggling man underneath her. "Right, up on your feet and behave, I'm armed, ok?" Rae got her phone out and put a call in for a black and white to come and pick up her prisoner. Five minutes later she gratefully handed him over, told the officers what she had seen, picked up her shopping, and headed to her car.

By the time she had got back to the station, she needed something to eat. So she went back out onto the street and picked up some sandwiches from the nearest deli. Steve and Ron were talking quietly when she entered and she smiled at them and headed for her own desk.

"Did you get anything?" Steve looked over at her.

"Yes, thank you, one dress, one pair of shoes and one bag snatcher."

"What?"

"I caught a … purse snatcher while I was there. Hey it's all in a days work! Even if today is supposed to be my day off." She sat down, and began to eat her sandwiches.  She had only taken two bites when her phone rang.

"Detective Yeager…Bob? … Oh, great. Look, put him in an interview room… Oh, sorry her and we'll be there in a few minutes. I'll just finish my lunch." Rae took another bite of her sandwich, got up and moved over to Steve's desk.

"Our next interviewee is here. Dani Barlow, 28. So whenever you are ready. At least we get to go home after this."

"Ok, I'm ready now. Ron, are you going to do the same again?"

"Yeah, I don't want these people to know that we are involved, not yet anyway. They headed down to the interview room and opened the door. Steve had obviously made the same assumption as Rae, because she saw him do a double take as he looked at the young woman with long blonde hair sitting in front of him.

"Ms Barlow, I'm Lieutenant Sloan, this is Detective Yeager. Do you not have a lawyer with you?"

"Yes, she's in the can."

"Oh." Rae couldn't think of anything else to say to that.  As she looked round a tall, dark haired woman walked down the hallway and back into the room.

"I trust you haven't asked my client any questions without me, officers."

"No, ma'am, and you are?" Rae shut the door as the woman moved past her.

"Meg Connolly, I am Ms Barlow's lawyer."

Rae moved over and switched on the recording equipment and then once again she and Steve went through the formalities to begin the interview.

"Ms Barlow, could you please tell me where you were on Monday night of this week, from about eight o'clock until two the following morning?"

"No."

"And is there a reason why you can't tell us?"

"'Cause I don't want to."

"Ms Barlow, let me explain something to you. The reason you are here is because we need to know your whereabouts at the time a serious crime was taking place. No, really isn't an answer that will help us or you." Rae stared at the two women in front of her. She waited for a reply from either of them, but when it was clear that neither of them was going to speak she took a breath. "Ok, I can sit here for the rest of the day; I don't have anything else planned. _Liar, you have all sorts of things you would rather be doing._

Rae turned, moved across to the side of the room and picked up a chair, she moved it back across to the table, put it carefully down and sat on it. Then she waited.

The room was silent for almost twenty minutes of the half an hour Rae had mentally allowed before Ms Barlow looked up. "I was at a meeting."

"Thank you. Do you have any witnesses to that fact?"

"Yeah, I was sitting right at the front."

"Did you know the people sitting either side of you?"

"Yep."

Rae took a breath. "Maybe you could write their names down for me, so that I can contact them on your behalf."

Rae slid a piece of paper and a pen across the table and watched as Dani Barlow wrote down two names. Then she got a black book out of her jacket and wrote down two phone numbers.

"Thank you." Rae picked up the piece of paper and handed it to Steve. "What time did the meeting finish?"

"Ten."

"So we have four hours left unaccounted for. What did you do when the meeting finished?"

"I went home."

"Alone?" Rae purposefully kept her voice as expressionless as Ms Barlow.

"No."

"Ok, can we have the name of your companion, as well please?" _I will not lose my temper with this woman; she is just trying to wind me up._

"His name is Joseph."

Steve who was happy to let Rae deal with this interview handed the piece of paper back, and they watched as she wrote down the full name of her boyfriend and a number next to it.

"What do you do for a living Ms Barlow?"  Rae looked at the young woman in front of her, she had no idea what her occupation could be.

"I teach."

_Nope, I wouldn't have guessed that._

"What subject?" Rae thought for the minute the young woman was silent. She decided it would probably be English or music.

"Science." There was a small smile on the woman's face but it quickly disappeared.

"Thank you. Now I need you to write out for me the following words please.

"Why does my client need to provide you with more handwriting, Detective?"

"Because we need it to assist us with our enquiries, Councillor."

"Now, could you write 'how do you like it', once with each hand please?"

After Ms Barlow had written the words twice, she lapsed back into silence and Rae concluded the interview. The two women then left the room and walked down the corridor without a further word.

"Can't be much of a boyfriend if he didn't even sit with her." Rae said in the flat, impassive voice she had used during the interview.

Ron came down into the room with a grin on his face and looked over at Rae. "So, Detective, what did you make of that then?"

"Well, Agent Wagner, I think that we are being played for fools, as I have already told Steve. So far we have had the artist, who was a speaker at a meeting of 200 people. Then we had Mr. Crisp, who was, as far as it goes, helpful and willing to let us know of his movements and finally, for now, Ms Barlow, who had obviously been cast as the silent type. So what do you think we will have tomorrow, nervous and happy to please, sullen and violent, tearful and incoherent? Take your pick, but I bet it will be one of them."

"Yeah, you could be right. So, now what, Rae, do you want to carry on working, or are you gonna call it a day?" Steve looked at his partner; he had a feeling he knew what her answer would be.

"No, I'll stay for a while, I want to go through what we have got, so that Monday we can get back down to it. Oh, did you speak to James Worthington?"

"Yes, I did, the funeral is ten o'clock on Monday morning. He would like us to go, and Jesse as well."

"Ok, I'll tell him later. So, Agent Wagner, would you like to see the information we have, or has Steve shown you everything?"

"Please call me Ron, then I can call you Rae, at least I hope I can."

"Of course."

"I've seen what Steve has got, but I would like to see your notes, and hear your impressions of what has happened so far. I have to say I agree with you about your activists."

Rae spent the next hour going through her notes and talking things over with Steve and Ron. As they talked they realised that they did have quite a bit of information, but nothing to really help them yet.

"I think that this will fall into place as we move on with it. This was never gonna be a case where we solved it in twenty-four hours. So, what now?" Rae looked over at Steve.

"I think that we call it a day, come back to interview the last activist tomorrow morning, and then I will work through the afternoon to try and join it all together."

"Oh, no you don't. There is no way that you are getting out of tomorrow afternoon, I don't care how you try to avoid it, you are gonna be dunked, my friend."

Ron looked over at them both. "What? What happens tomorrow afternoon?"

"It's the police activity afternoon tomorrow and Lieutenant Steve Sloan has a spot waiting for him in the dunking booth."

A huge grin split Ron's face. "I am so glad I'm still going to be here!"

Rae stood up, "Right, I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow, Steve. Ron, it was a pleasure to meet you." She held out her hand, and shook his. Then she picked up her jacket, shopping and phone and wandered out towards her car.

When she got home, Rae hung up her new dress in the closet and put her shoes underneath it. Kira came rubbing around her ankles and she got down onto the floor and began to make darting movements with her fingers. The little paws lashed out at her, making contact a couple of times. Rae laughed.

Then she got up and headed for the phone. "Jo, hi it's Rae. Did you have a nice time last night…? Good listen, I have something to tell you…"

Steve headed back to the beach house and down to this apartment. He checked his messages and pressed the button. "Steve, hi it's me, Jo. I just wanted to thank you again for a lovely evenin' an' the flowers, which were beautiful. I am lookin' forward to tomorrow night. I'll see you then, bye."

That was the only message and Steve smiled as he wound it back and played it again. Then he went over to his closet took out his dinner suit and left it to hang so that the creases dropped out. 

He picked up the phone and dialled the number for Community General. "Dad, hi, it's me. Listen I've had an idea…"

It was just after eight in the evening when Jesse arrived home, he dropped his jacket and bag inside his front door and then knocked for Rae. She opened the door with Kira in her arms. "Hey, I wondered when you would be back. Come in."

Jesse walked in, stroking the kitten as he went past. "So, did you get your dress yet?"

"You seem more worried about this than me, every time I see you, you ask me if I have got my dress, well yes, doctor, I have my dress. Happy now?"

"I'm sorry, it's just that I am really looking forward to us being there together. I know we've been together for six months, but it'll be the first time I get to show you off to my colleagues."

"Jess, I'm sorry, I didn't think of it like that." She put Kira down, and pulled Jesse down onto the sofa next to her and began to kiss him hard on the lips. "I love you so much, Jesse, I hope I won't let you down tomorrow."

"Honey, that is never gonna happen. So, when do I get to see this dress then?"

"Tomorrow night, when you pick me up."

"Oh." Jesse saw the determination in her face and decided to leave it. Besides he had a surprise for her, so he guessed she should have one for him too.

By lunchtime the following day Rae was ready to drown all activists on sight. Donald Leonard, trainee accountant, had been sullen and uncooperative. It had taken them almost two hours to complete their interview. He had arrived exactly at eleven, but from then on he had decided not to help in any way. They were finished now and heading for the activity afternoon, which had been set up at the local PBA sports ground.

Rae and Jesse drove over in Tom, and as she drew into the parking lot Rae looked around for a minute. She could see Steve's car parked by the entrance. He had left about half an hour before her. Suddenly she saw what she was looking for and eased Tom over to the far left corner of the lot.

"Rae, there are plenty of parking spaces much nearer than this."

"I know. But I'm meeting someone." Rae drew to a halt.

 Jesse opened his door. Standing just by the side of the car next to them, was a young woman dressed in jeans and a red top. She had long dark brown hair, which had been put back in a big clip. He recognised her from Bob's the other evening.

"Jesse, you remember Jo. Jo, I don't think you were introduced the other night, this is my partner, Jesse Travis." The two women smiled at each other, and then began to laugh.

"Rae, why do I get the feeling that you are hatching a plan?"

"Because I am! I just thought that Jo should have the chance to dunk Steve."

"Oh." Jesse joined in with the smiles and laughter and they headed off together to the sports field.

Steve looked at the large tank that he was about to sit above, on a very small looking seat. Over to his left there was a large target. If the small red circle in the middle was hit then he would end up in the water. The only problem was all cops had to be able to shoot, so they could probably all hit the target with a soft ball with their eyes shut. He had a feeling that he was going to get very wet, very quickly, very often.

Mark wandered towards the dunking booth and moved over to where he could see his son. "Hi, you ready?"

"No. I don't suppose I'll ever be. How did I let Rae talk me into this?"

"Don't ask me, there is no way you would ever have gotten me to do that, not even for a new paediatric wing!" Steve smiled and looked round. There was one other cop in front of him, and then it would be his go. He was expected to sit up there for twenty minutes and then it would be over. He had an old t-shirt and shorts on, but the sun was strong and he knew he would dry in its warmth quite quickly.

Rae, Jesse and Jo kept well away from the part of the ground that Steve was in, and looked at all the other activities and stalls. They bought a few things to send over to London for Rae's children, and then sat down and had a soda each as they watched the world go by. They had been sitting down for about ten minutes when an announcement floated out across the ground.

"Next up in the ducking pond will be Lieutenant Steve Sloan, Homicide Division, North Hollywood. So come on all you cops from his precinct, don't miss this chance to get him, and get him good."

The three friends smiled at each other, and started across the ground. As they arrived, Jo moved round behind Rae and Jesse, hoping that Steve wouldn't see her until the last minute. Rae saw Ron and called him across.

"Hi, listen, could you do me a favour, stand in front of this young lady until we get to our turns? This is Jo. Steve's girlfriend."

"And he doesn't know she's here, right?" Ron smiled. "Sure thing, let's go."

They moved closer, just in time to see Mark throw his three balls at the target. He missed and Steve called out.

"Thanks, dad, I owe you one. So who's next? I still seem to be incredibly dry."

"That's what dad's are for. I'm off now, Steve, I'll see you later." Mark spoke quietly to Amanda as he passed and then watched from a distance as Rae walked over to the tank.

"My go." Rae smiled. "That will change right now, Lieutenant." Rae paid her money and picked up three balls.

"Go on then, Detective, I'm sure that by the time you have thrown your third ball you will have gotten the…" Steve didn't get the chance to finish his sentence before he was unceremoniously dunked in the water.

The big tank was made of a clear material and Rae could see Steve as he was flung down to the bottom of it, and then made his way back to the top. She grinned at him and then waited for him to re-seat himself. 

Rae raised the second ball and threw, this time she was slightly off target, and Steve stayed where he was. "Nope, you only winged it, that won't do it. Wanna give the last ball away, so you don't humiliate yourself?"

Rae stuck her tongue out at him, then she smiled. "Make yourself comfortable, you won't get a chance to sit there for long."  She looked over at her partner, then she eyed up the target and threw.

Once again Steve found himself in the water. Rae turned and gestured to Jo to come forward and watched as her friend paid for her go. Steve hauled himself back out of the water for the second time and sat back down. "Right, who's next?" His hair was pouring water down his face, and he couldn't really see who he was talking to. Give it your best shot."

"Honey, I intend to do just that."

Steve shook the water out of his hair, and just stared. "Jo, what are you doing here?" He didn't have the chance to find out. Down he went again. Jo laughed out loud, and waited for him to emerge.  He had hardly had the chance to sit back down when he saw the ball fly past and strike the middle of the target again.

He wasn't surprised when Jo dunked him for the third time. She moved over to the side of the tank as he came over to the side at the end of her go. She leant over to kiss him on the lips and felt him put his wet hands on the back of her top.

"Aw, Steve. No." But she was smiling. "I enjoyed that, I'll see you when you've finished your go. I think there are still some people waitin' to get you wet."

Ron stepped up and Steve grinned at him. "No, not a chance, he's not a cop, so he doesn't have to be a good shot." 

"I heard that." Ron smiled as Steve pulled himself back out of the tub again. By the time he had finished his go and Jesse had had his, they had dunked Steve another three times between them. Another five minutes after that his turn was over.

Rae and Jo were standing together with Ron, Jesse and Amanda when Steve made his way back from the dunking pond. He was dripping wet as he walked up to Rae and pulled her to him, making her completely wet, front and back.

"Steve, what did you do that for?" Rae was so surprised she could hardly breathe.

"Because you volunteered me for it, and we're partners, if I get wet so do you."

"Well it's a good job I had planned to go home in a minute isn't it?" Rae shook herself a little, she felt cold, wet and horrid, so Steve must feel awful.

Jesse handed over a small hand towel to a dripping Rae who held it up and looked at it. "Oh this is a lot of good! But thanks." 

"Yeah, I guess it's about as useless as tits on a bull." Jo said as she looked at Rae's hands.

Rae looked at her in amazement? "What?" Then realising what she had heard began to laugh. "Oh, my." She couldn't speak; there were tears of laughter on her face and the towel fell to the floor. 

Steve who had heard the saying before was grinning like an idiot as he stood soaking wet but happy.

Gradually Rae gathered herself together, picked the offending towel back up and trying to regain some composure looked over at her partner.

"So, did you enjoy it? Really?"

"Yeah, I did actually. It was fun, but I am never doing it again, ok?"

"We'll see." Rae smiled. "Right, I think I need to get home and you do too. Jesse are you ready to come, sweetheart?"

"Yes, I'll see you all tonight? Ah, Jo, sorry, are you coming?"

Jo who had been blushing furiously at the reaction to something that she said all the time smiled at him. "Yep, I'm comin' I have an invite from the drippin' man over there." She smiled at Steve and then kissed him gently on the lips, keeping well away from his body as she did so. "Honey, I'm gonna go too. I'll see you about eight. It was nice meetin' y'all. I'll see ya tonight."

Jo turned and walked away with Rae and Jesse. Steve moved round to the back of the dunking pool and grabbed another towel. He changed into dry clothes in the cubicle provided and then headed off towards his car, waving at Amanda and Ron as he went.

By half past six Steve had had a warm shower, something to eat and was lying on his bed reading the newspaper. He was looking forward to the evening, and the plans that he had made. He had phoned Jo when he got home and made sure that it was ok to pick her up early, and had told her why it was necessary. He got up and stretched. Then he checked his dinner suit and began to get dressed.

Amanda and Ron had sorted out the boys and were getting dressed together in her bedroom. Well, they would be in a moment. Amanda ran her hands over Ron's back and smiled up at him. "I have missed you, especially when I see Rae and Jesse together, we have something so special when we are with each other." Ron leant down and began to kiss her on the lips. He moved his fingers up and through her hair, and she moaned. "Ron, honey, we have to go soon." She smiled, "But the boys are staying overnight with my mother."

"Good." He smiled at her. "I guess I can wait then."

Mark walked down the stairs to Steve's apartment to check on his son's progress. Steve was standing by the window looking out across the beach. He was ready to go, and Mark looked at him proudly. "Son, you look great. I hope you have a good evening."

"Yeah, me too, Dad. I know you will like Jo…" They both heard a horn beep above them, they turned smiling to each other and headed for the door.

Jesse put his cummerbund around his trousers, picked up his jacket and tie and headed towards Rae's apartment. He rang the bell and waited. 

Rae had just come out of the bathroom when she heard the bell. She picked up her bathrobe, slipped it on and went to answer it. 

Jesse's smile dropped as he saw that she wasn't dressed yet. "Hey, we have to be going in about half an hour."

"I will be ready. You can come in and occupy the cat for me."

"Oh, no, not today. I don't want to get cat dander on my suit. She can stay in her cage."

"Do you want me to fix your tie for you? I'm left handed remember." 

"No that's ok, I'll do it, can I use the mirror in your bedroom?"

"No, you may not you will see my dress. I'll bring you the small one out, hold on." Rae disappeared and then came back with a small table mirror. She set it down, kissed him gently on the lips and smiled. "I'm going to go and carry on getting ready, don't worry by eight I will be standing by the door."

Jo smiled at herself as she held up the black dress in front of her. It was perfectly plain with a sweetheart neckline, long tight sleeves and except for a large black bow at the waist, was backless. She fastened a square diamond on a gold chain around her neck. She had matching earrings, and that was the only jewellery she planned to wear.

After she had finished at the activity afternoon she had hurried to the hairdressers and had her hair put up in a French pleat. She checked her watch; it was just coming up to half past seven, time to let Michael know she was getting ready to leave.

Five minutes later Steve walked up to her door and rang the bell. Jo was waiting just behind it. "Hi, I didn't want to keep you waitin'." 

Steve gasped as she walked out into the light. "Oh, Jo, you look beautiful." He could see that one of the yellow roses from the other night was pinned to her dress, and her hair was put up in a very complicated looking shape on the back of her head. He put his hand out and she took it. Steve raised it to his lips and kissed it gently then he put a hand on her back and guided her towards the car.

Jesse was getting very agitated. "Rae, come on, honey!"

"Jess, for goodness sake, what is the problem? You haven't stopped fidgeting and calling out since you got here… So what do you think?"

Jesse stood up and turned round. Rae looked stunning. Her hair had been slicked back, and her dress made her look breathtaking. "Oh, honey, I will be the luckiest and proudest man there. Thank you." He walked over to her. "Do you have time to re-do your lipstick?"

"Yes why what's wrong with it?"

Jesse didn't say anything, but he leant forward and kissed her passionately on the lips. After a couple of minutes Rae gently moved away from him. "Oh, I see, I'll be right back."

As Rae came back into the room she heard the sound of a horn tooting below. "Come on, honey, it's time to go." Rae looked at him but Jesse just slipped his jacket on and took her hand. They walked down to the entrance hall together, and Jesse held the door open for her. Outside was a black limousine. Steve and Jo were standing by the back door and a chauffeur was waiting by the front.

"Oh, Jess, thank you."

"Honey, it wasn't my idea, it was Steve's" They were walking down the steps as he spoke. "He realised that this might be your only Community General ball, so we did this between the three of us, Mark joined in too, to make it more special for you."

Rae looked at these two wonderful men who had so recently come into her life. She walked over and kissed Steve on the cheek, then she held out her hand and Jesse took a hold of it. The chauffeur opened the door and Jo, then Rae, Jesse and finally Steve got in and headed off for their special evening.

The ballroom where the event was being held was decorated with gold and silver balloons and midnight blue satin streamers. As Steve and Jesse walked into the room each with their partner on their arm Mark saw them and headed over.

"Hi, Dad, is Amanda here yet?"

"No, Son, but I'm sure they won't be long."

"Sorry, Dad, this is Jo Walters, Jo, this is my father Doctor Mark Sloan, he's head of internal medicine at Community General Hospital."

"Jo, I'm pleased to meet you. I hope I may have a dance later on."

"I'd be honoured, Sir, thank you for askin'."

Mark turned. "Rae, honey, you look absolutely beautiful, may I escort you to our table?" 

Rae smiled and held out her hand. Mark took it and they walked together towards the other corner of the room. Jesse followed behind them with a grin on his face, he could hear Rae talking excitedly about the limo as she walked. Once they had sat down, Jesse took her hand himself. "I hope you enjoy yourself tonight, I'm sorry if I was a pain earlier, but I just wanted it to start well."

"I know." Rae lifted her hand as she saw Amanda and Ron enter the room. She watched as Mark once again headed across the room to meet them, and soon they were seated around the table, and chatting easily.

The seven of them had enjoyed each other's company as they ate their meal. Later Rae and Jo returned from the ladies room just as the band started to play a slower tune. Ron and Amanda were already out on the floor, when Steve and Jesse stood up, almost together and held their hands out to their respective partners. Soon Jo found herself being swept around the floor in the arms of her very handsome man. "Enjoying yourself, Jo?"

"Oh, yep. Your daddy seems such a nice man, an' Rae an' Jesse, they're good together aren't they?" she smiled as they danced past the two friends she was talking about. 

"Yeah, it's the happiest I've seen Jesse for a long time, they have had a rough time lately, but things are peaceful at the moment. She goes home in six months, I don't know what Jesse will do then, or me for that matter."

"Why does she go home, isn't here home for her?" Jo looked confused.

Steve explained about the job switch scheme, and Jo remembered reading about it. Then the music slowed some more and they moved closer together and there was no more talking.

Mark relaxed back in his chair. He would have loved to be dancing with one of the young ladies, but, alas, they had all been taken. Still, he quite enjoyed watching as his son and his friends glided around the room, each couple moving as if they had always belonged together. The ladies were stunning, and each of the men cut a dashing figure. It was like watching the courtship dance of some rare and exotic birds.

Rae and Jesse had danced together for two dances and then Jesse had taken her hand and moved over towards the door. They walked out through it and Rae found herself on a balcony looking over part of the city. The lights were twinkling and in the distance she could just make out the water as it lapped up to the shore. 

"Thank you, Jesse, I have had a wonderful evening. I can't remember the last time I did something as special as this, and to be able to share it with you, well it makes it even more special.  She moved closer to him and began to kiss him. But to her surprise he moved away from her.  "Jess? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, honey, but I need to talk to you, and if I don't do it right now I will lose my nerve. I have been thinking about the fact that you have to go home in six months time…"

"Jess, no, please not tonight. I can't think about that, not yet." Rae's expression became pained as she heard what Jesse wanted to talk to her about.

Jesse's voice came out as a whisper. "I know how you can stay, Rae."

Jo and Steve had seen Rae and Jesse leave the room, Steve sighed, he had wanted to take Jo out on to the balcony. Jo looked at him. "You know I've been here before. There is another balcony lookin' out the other way." She took his hand and they wandered over towards another door. Jo looked out and smiled when she realised that it was empty.

"When were you here then?" Steve smiled at her as she pulled him out after her.

"I came to a weddin' reception. But that time I wanted to come out here to get away from someone, not be with someone." She moved towards him then and began to kiss him as she had on the Thursday night. Steve had no intention of stopping her and he could feel himself respond to her, there was something very special about this lady.

Gradually he pulled away from her. "Mmm, Jo, honey, I guess we will have to go back inside in a minute. But maybe not quite yet, huh?" He began to kiss her again this time on her neck, and he felt her body melt against his, and it felt so right to him.

Mark was talking quietly to Ron when he saw Rae come back through the ballroom, her hand over her mouth as she rushed away. Jesse came out after her and followed her out of the room. Mark went to follow, but realised that it would be futile.

Rae went out into the parking lot and straight over to the limo that had brought her here just a few short hours before. "Please would you take me home, and then come back here for the others?" She got in before the driver had time to answer and was relieved that they drew away before Jesse got to them. 

Jesse went back into the room, saw Mark walking towards him and went over to meet him. "Mark, I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'll see you at the hospital tomorrow."

"Jesse, what happened? Is Rae alright?" Mark sounded concerned.

"Yeah, it's just something that I have to deal with, Mark. I will tell you when I have more time. Which I may have real soon."

Jesse turned from him and walked out to the main desk and asked the receptionist to order him a cab, then he walked over to the door and waited, trying to work out all the time what had gone wrong.

By the time Jo and Steve came back into the room both Rae and Jesse had long since left. Mark, Ron and Amanda were all dancing and they sat quietly together at the empty table. "Jo, let me know if you want to leave before the end, only my dad always stays until the band packs up!"

"Honey, I will let you know when I am ready to leave, but right now I would just like another dance." Steve stood up and escorted her onto the dance floor, but as he did so Mark walked over.

"May I have the pleasure of this dance, Miss Walters?"

"Why, Sir, of course." The next thing she knew Jo was being guided around the floor by a man who was obviously an expert dancer.

"Doctor Sloan, I thought your son was a good dancer, but you are exceptional, Sir."

"Mark, please call me Mark, and thank you for your kind words." Mark smiled at her; he was very taken by this young woman.

As they all walked back towards their table when the music ended Steve realised that Rae and Jesse were missing.

"Dad, where's Rae?"

"She and Jesse went home, Son. Separately."

"Oh." Suddenly Steve felt his mood dip. They had been having such a great time, he wondered what had happened. He decided then and there to go and visit with Rae in the morning and find out if there was anything he could do to help her. He knew she would do the same for him.

It was only another half an hour before Steve and Jo found themselves alone in the back of the limousine. 

"What happened, Steve? I thought they went out on the balcony for the same thing we did. Guess I was wrong."

"I have no idea. But I'll go and see her tomorrow morning. We don't have to start until eleven, so I'll go round about nine."

"Would you like some company, I don't know if it would be right for me to come. I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Well, you could see Rae and I could talk to Jesse, something is obviously up and I want to help if I can."

Jo smiled at him, and snuggled into his arms as they drove back towards Beverley Hills. 

Steve walked her up to her door. "I hope you had a good time. That the dancing and the food and everything was ok." 

"Oh, I think I could have done with a little more sugar." Jo had a smile on her face.

"Huh, a little more what?"

"Honey where I come from, this is what we mean by sugar." She put her arms around his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss once again. The driver, sitting in the car, smiled to himself. He had had a very interesting evening.

Steve pulled himself together as he came up for air. "Sugar, mmm, I'll have to remember that. I'll pick you up in the morning, about half past eight?"

"Ok, thank you, Steve, I did have a real nice evening, real nice." She smiled at him and unlocked her door, blew him a kiss and disappeared.

Steve walked back down the driveway, a smile on his face, and climbed into the back of the waiting car. As he was driven through the streets of Beverley Hills, he realised that for the first time his car was just as good as anybody else's in this area. When he got out of the limo in Malibu, Steve tipped the driver and headed indoors. Mark was waiting for him, as he walked in the door.

"Alright, Steve? Did Jo enjoy herself?"

Steve still had a smile on his face. "Oh yeah, so did I, I had a great evening. Goodnight dad, I'll see you tomorrow."

It only took Steve five minutes to go through the shower and into his bed. He lay there for a few minutes going over in his mind the time he had spent with Jo, slowly his eyes closed, and he drifted off into a peaceful and contented sleep.

Jesse on the other hand was pacing in his apartment. He had tried to get Rae to open her door, but she wouldn't. He guessed that he had hurt her, although that hadn't been his intention and he had no idea how. She'd just suddenly become upset and then angry, and he'd gotten so tongue-tied he couldn't even ask her what was wrong. Now he wasn't sure if he would be able to repair the damage, not easily anyway.

As Steve slept and Jesse paced, Rae was lying on her bed in her own place, Kira was curled up beside her. The pillow was wet with tears, and her carefully chosen dress was in a heap on the floor. She closed her eyes, and tried to think about the first part of the evening, but she could only hear Jesse as he destroyed their relationship with a few ill chosen words. She knew that for her sleep wouldn't come, not for a while.


	6. Chapter 6 Savage Brutes

Savage Brutes 

Rae was still in bed when she heard the doorbell ring the next morning. She got up, looked at her watch, slipped on her robe and then squinted through the peephole. She could see Steve and Jo standing there and opened the door.

"Steve, Jo, what are you doing here? It's only now coming up to nine o'clock.  I guess you'd better come in."

"Rae, what happened? We didn't even know that you had left last night."

"I don't want to talk about it Steve. Can I make you a tea, or coffee?"

"Rae, if you don't mind, I'll do it. You sit down an' talk with Steve.  I'll make us all a cup."

"Thank you, Jo. I'll just get dressed." Rae headed back into the bedroom, and pulled a pair of jeans and a t-shirt on. As she headed back towards the living area, she kicked her dress as she passed. "Damn, damn, damn." The tears began again, surprising her with their intensity; she collapsed onto the bed and let them flow.

Steve heard her and walked quietly into the room, and sat on the bed. "Rae, what happened? How did he do this to you?" Steve couldn't believe how angry he felt with Jesse, even though he had no idea what he'd done.

"He… he asked me to marry him, Steve…"

"But that's wonderful… isn't it?" Steve looked confused.

"No. He said that … he had worked… out how I could stay… he'd just marry me… and get round the problem that way… Like he was doing me some big favour." 

"Oh, honey, come on, you know what Jesse is like, he had probably been practising all day what he was gonna say, and then when it got to it, all the words just left him. He loves you, Rae, you know that. Why else would he ask you to marry him?"

"I don't know, but I do know that just to get around a problem isn't a good reason." Rae got up and headed back into the living area and sat in the chair. Steve walked back with her and moved towards the sofa. As he sat down he sneezed, violently, twice.

Rae ran her fingers through her hair. She couldn't really explain why she was so devastated by what Jesse had done. Maybe it was because it had seemed like he was doing her a favour, that it would just be a kind of marriage of convenience. Whatever it was it had ruined her evening, and made her wish that she was living somewhere else. As she sat there she saw Kira jump silently up on to the back of the sofa and pad quietly along towards Steve. 

Steve turned towards Jo in the kitchen and watched as she put the tea things together on the counter. Suddenly he felt a strange sensation on the back of his head. 

Rae looked over and saw Kira licking Steve's hair. She was about to tell Steve what was happening, when he put his hand behind him and flicked at whatever was causing it. He heard a squawking sort of sound and then a little thump. 

Rae leapt up. "Kira! Steve, be careful for God's sake." She realised that her temper was on a very short fuse, but she didn't apologise as she moved round behind the sofa and picked up her kitten. "Kira, honey, are you alright?" The little kitten meowed and rubbed her head against Rae's chin, and she could hear her begin to purr. She glared at Steve and went and sat back down.

"Rae, I'm sorry, I didn't even know you had a cat." Steve knelt down and stroked the kitten, and began to sneeze again.

"Atishoo, Atishoo, Atishoo. It's not you, Rae, I think I'm, Atishoo, Atishoo, allergic to your cat." Steve could feel his eyes begin to itch. "I have to get out of here, I'll go to Jesse's, I'm sorry, Rae, I'll see you later." He got up and hurried to the door; opening it he went out and headed for Jesse's.

Jesse was making a cup of coffee for himself and wondering whether to phone and volunteer for some extra shifts when he heard Rae's door slam. He moved over towards his door and opened it just in time to see Steve staggering towards him, his eyes streaming.

"Steve? Are you ok?" Jesse looked alarmed, for a moment he thought that his friend was crying.

"Yeah, I think I am allergic to Rae's cat! Atishoo, Atishoo."

"I didn't know you were sensitive to cats." Jesse went to get his medical bag.

"Neither did I. I never have been in the past. Atishoo. I don't have much contact with them, so it's not something I could easily find out." 

"I can give you some desloratadine, which is for perennial rhinitus, but you will probably find that it will go away gradually if you stay away from Kira. Are you planning to go back next door?"

"Could I have that in English now please?" Steve tried not to rub his eyes as he spoke.

"It's an antihistamine to relieve seasonal and year-round allergies, which is what perennial rhinitus means."

"Thank you. Yeah, I'm going back in a minute. Oh well, at least I know why I sneeze when I'm with Rae now." Steve smiled at Jesse and took the tablet he offered him and swallowed it dry.

Jesse shuddered; he couldn't understand how his friend could do that. "How is she Steve? I can't get her to talk to me. I don't even know what I did wrong, not really."

"You hurt her feelings, Jesse."

"She told you what happened?" Jesse wasn't sure whether to be relieved or jealous. His feelings were so muddled up.

"She said that you proposed to her, Jess, but that you made it sound like you were only doing it to solve a problem, so that she didn't have to go home."

"Oh, God, no, no, I didn't mean it like that. Oh, Steve, what am I gonna do?"

"Leave her for a while, Jesse. Let her realise just how much she loves you. Give her a bit of space, once she calms down she will be able to see things more rationally."

Jo and Rae had sat down with their drinks as Steve left the room. Jo had been worried about him, but as Rae had pointed out Jesse was a doctor, so he was going to the right place. Rae told her what had happened the night before, and then she had leant back and shut her eyes.

"Rae, honey, I don't know you very well, or Jesse either, but maybe you over reacted. Steve told me you would be goin' home in about six months time. Jesse doesn't want to lose you; you have to give him the benefit of the doubt. Let him ask you again."

"I don't know. It was the way he said it and how I felt when he spoke. I've been married before, Jo; we have three children who live with him back in London. My first husband proposed to me beautifully, I had only known him three weeks, but I knew straight away that it was the right thing to do to say yes. But last night, it wasn't right. He was doing it for the wrong reasons. How can I stay with him if I say no?  But if I say yes, it will split us up anyway because I would be lying to him."

"Honey, I don't know what to say to you. Maybe your divorce is makin' you gun-shy, an' your responsibility to your children. I don't know if they have met Jesse, but you have to listen to him, an' tell him what you just told me. Let him understand what you feel an' give him a chance to talk to you too." Jo took her hand in her own and squeezed it.

"They've all met him. We had a holiday in London a little while back. Thank you, Jo. I will. But it'll have to wait; I need to get to work." She stood up and walked over to the door, she picked up her jacket. "I don't want to seem ungracious, but I need to get to the squad room. Steve is only next-door. Maybe we can meet up again under happier circumstances."

Jo knew that Rae didn't mean to be rude. "Not straight away, I will see you at the funeral tomorrow won't I?

"Oh, Jo, I'm sorry, yes I'll see you then." Rae opened the door and she headed off down the hallway and pointed out Jesse's door as she went past. Then she got into Tom and drove off towards the precinct.

Rae sat down at her desk and began to go through the paperwork from the interviews the day before. Steve had called to say he would be in later, once the sneezing and itchy eyes had disappeared. Rae knew she had been short with him, but she had told him she would prefer to work alone. Shrugging she picked up the phone and started to ring round all the names that they had been given to collaborate the alibis of the interviewees.

By the time she had gone though all the numbers, she had concrete alibis for all of the activists. She wasn't surprised; she had known that that is what would happen.  She had been at her desk for two hours. She had itchy feet, she needed to be anywhere but where she was. In the end she tidied her desk up, headed back to her apartment, and went out for a long and punishing run.

Jesse watched her leave the parking lot in her running kit. He wanted to chase after her, but he knew that he couldn't. He picked up the phone and dialled Community General. After he had let them know that he would be available for any extra shifts that they were having trouble covering, he had a shower and got ready for his scheduled shift that day.

In this way Rae and Jesse avoided each other for the whole of Sunday. Rae didn't have a chance to tell him about the funeral and so the next morning she got ready alone and headed down to her car.

It was quiet and shady at the chapel where the service was to be held. Steve walked over to where James Worthington was standing. "Excuse me, Sir, did the Chief manage to call you on the phone this morning?" He saw the man before him nod, and he continued. "He asked me to say again how sorry he is that he can't be here. He said he would be in touch again, real soon." Steve didn't know how to finish the one sided conversation so he just moved quietly away and re-joined Jo.

Rae saw Jo and Steve standing together under a beautiful oak tree and walked over to them. "Hi, Steve, Jo." She put her arms out and gave her new friend a hug. "How are you doing today?"

"Not too bad really. I didn't know her very well, but I feel so bad for James, an' Steve tells me that she didn't have a pleasant death, I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

Rae looked at her; sometimes Jo had a strange way with words. The funeral cortège began to arrive and the three of them walked into the church ahead of it and slipped in at the back.

They were walking over to the burial spot and Rae had just apologised to James for Jesse's absence when the trouble started.

The first indication that something was wrong was when a balloon filled with red water was thrown and hit the side of the building, just to the left of where Steve and Jo were standing. "What the…" Steve looked over to where it appeared the missile had come from. He drew his gun and headed over that way.

Rae drew her own weapon, but she headed over to where James was standing with Mrs Barraclough. She pulled Jo with her. "You need to get out of sight, now. We can finish this later." 

Suddenly about thirty people all with placards and more missiles invaded the churchyard. Rae couldn't believe that they could stoop so low as to disrupt a funeral.

She directed Jo, James, his housekeeper and the priest back into the church and then headed back to Steve, but a protestor saw her as she crossed one of the paths and turning his placard round struck her across the back of the head, viciously, with its handle. 

Jo, looked out of the door, and saw Rae go down, and stay down. She rushed out, grabbing her cell phone as she did so. She dialled 911 and requested police and ambulance back up. She struggled to lift the unconscious form of Rae and took her back with her into the church. Once she had done that she took Rae's gun and headed back towards Steve.

Steve knew that he had no chance of dealing with any of these protestors, there were just too many of them. He gradually worked his way round towards the church; he could see the mourners were also going back into the vestibule. He saw Rae as she was knocked to the ground, and watched in horror as Jo rushed out to her. His attention was diverted then, as he had to back away from a group of three protestors who were heading towards the coffin, which had been left on the ground.

Steve stood up and fired into the air. The protestors stopped in their tracks, and the coffin was left untouched. Silence descended on the area and then the sound of sirens could be heard faintly in the background. Five black and whites and an ambulance came into view and Steve breathed a sigh of relief. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned, gun raised, to be face to face with Jo.

"Hey, lower that, before you turn around. You could have my head off."

"Jo, honey, you shouldn't even be out here."

"I know, but I just knew that you needed somebody else after Rae got hit. Sorry."

"That's all right, how is she?"

"Out cold, or she was when I came out. I called an ambulance for her. Yep, there it is."

They headed back towards the church as the officers began to round up the protestors. As Steve opened the door he called out to the frightened people inside. "This is the police, everything is under control now." Then he entered.

Rae was still unconscious on the floor and the paramedics came in and moved straight over to her. James Worthington was sitting quietly, slightly away from everybody else, except for Mrs. Barraclough. Jo moved over to him. "James. It's over. We'll carry on in a minute; once Rae and Steve have left we will start the service up again, right from the beginnin'. 

"Jo?" She could see that her boss was both shocked and shaken, and she had to admit so was she. "What kind of savage brutes would disrupt a funeral?"

"James, shhh, I promise you, Candi will get her Christian burial." Jo watched as James just nodded, but she saw the priest stand up and begin to arrange things once again.

The paramedics had supported Rae's neck and spine and now they gently put her onto a gurney and began to wheel her to the waiting vehicle. Steve moved over to Jo. "I'm gonna go with her, honey, I'll call you later, ok?

"Yeah, I'll go straight home from here, unless James needs me. Call me on my cell phone, ok? Oh, Steve, this is Rae's." She handed the gun to Steve, kissed him quickly on the cheek and moved away before he could say anything more."

Steve got into the ambulance and looked down at Rae. She looked very pale and there was blood on the sheet underneath her head. The paramedic was working on her and Steve watched as the man shone the light into Rae's eyes. There was no response. As he sat there Rae's breathing began to become erratic and the medic put a mask over her face and checked all her vital signs for the second time since he had entered the vehicle. 

Jesse was working in the ER when the doors opened and he saw Steve come running in next to a gurney. "Steve? Oh, God, Rae." He looked over at the medic. "What've you got?

"Severe concussion, possible skull fracture, and internal bleeding. Irregular breathing, no response to stimulus." 

Jesse looked around. "Get Doctor Sloan and Doctor Martin down here, STAT." He followed the gurney into the trauma room looking around him all the time as he did so. Steve looked through the glass; he could see Jesse checking Rae over. He turned just in time to see his dad and Alex coming down the hallway.

"Steve, Jesse had us paged, what's wrong?"

"It's Rae, Dad, she's in there." Mark went into the room and Jesse came straight out. 

"Alex, you need to get ready to take her up to x-ray and she'll need a CT scan." Jesse sank down into a chair and ran his hands through his hair. "Oh, God, Rae."

"Jess, what is it? She was just knocked out. Why aren't you treating her?"

"She's not responsive, Steve, she could be in a coma, or have brain damage, I just can't treat her." Jesse stood up and began to walk up and down the hallway. Steve put his hand on his shoulder.

"Jess, come on, let's go and get a coffee, Dad or Alex will come get you as soon as they know anything."

Steve and Jesse sat in the doctor's lounge for just over an hour. Then slowly the door opened. Jesse leapt to his feet, but sank down again when he saw that it was Jo.

"Honey, what are you doing here?" Steve moved over to her.

"The funeral finished, I couldn't keep still, so I decided to come here, I hope you don't mind. How is she?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't look good. What happened to her, Jo?"

"Did you see it? What was she hit with?" Jesse was back up on his feet.

"One of the protestors hit her with his placard, or rather with the handle of it. A great big piece of wood. She went down without a sound."

"Jo, honey, could you recognise him, the guy that hit her?"

"Oh, yeah, in a heartbeat. You can still hold 'em for forty-eight hours without havin' to charge 'em can't you?"

Steve paused for a minute. "Yes that's right, why?" 

"Then keep all of 'em right where they are. Let them sweat, I have no intention of leavin' here until I know Rae is gonna be all right. Then I will identify him."

Steve stood up then and moved across to her. He put his arm around her. "She has a very good friend in you, Jo. And me, well I know what I have." He kissed her gently on the forehead and they sat down together.

The door opened again and Alex came in. "We've admitted her Jesse. Mark says that you can go up and sit with her. But she's in intensive care; her breathing was so irregular that we had to ventilate her. Mark wants to keep her on the machine so that he can monitor her. Jesse just nodded and walked out of the room. He went with his young friend along the hallway and then got into the elevator. 

Mark was waiting for him when he alighted; he walked over to him and guided him towards her room. "Jesse, she has a fractured skull. I don't think we'll have to operate, but I will need to keep a close eye on her, if the swelling increases then it may be necessary. The bleeding had stopped by the time we got her ready to x-ray, but her breathing is too irregular for her to breathe on her own and her heart rate is erratic. I'm sorry."

"No, thank you, Mark, for being honest with me. Will she die, Mark?"

"Jesse, I don't know. But head injuries are difficult to treat. She could come round in five minutes, or still be like this in five years… Does she have a living will?"

"No, Mark, but I know that she said that if she were to… die she wanted all her organs to be used… Oh, God, Rae, honey, please… wake up."

"Jesse, buzz for me if you need anything, for Rae, or for you, ok?" He watched as his friend just nodded and sat down. As Jesse covered Rae's hand with his own, Mark left the room. The memory was still fresh in his mind of when he had been sat in a room identical to that one watching his son as he lay on a similar machine. He felt nothing but compassion for Jesse. Just yesterday he had been thinking how normal their lives had become, and now they were back into an existence of worry and heartache.

Slowly Mark walked down to his son in the doctor's lounge. He opened the door and saw him sitting cuddled up to Jo. They seemed to be gaining strength from each other.

"Dad how is she?"

"Not good, son. She is still unconscious and in a coma. The machines are doing all the work for her. It's just a case of waiting now. There is nothing else we can do."

Steve slumped back down into the sofa, which seemed to envelope him. "Three hours ago, she was fine, upset, but fine, and now you are saying that she may … may never leave here?"

"Yes, son, that's exactly what I am saying." 

The sun set over Community General and Jesse still sat with his hand over Rae's. He couldn't get his mind round how everything had changed completely over the last forty-eight hours. Two days ago, they had been blissfully happy. One day later, they weren't speaking to each other, and now Rae was seriously ill, and there was no guarantee that she would even be alive by tomorrow.

Amanda came into the room. "Jesse, go and get some sleep, Rae will need you when she wakes up. Go on, you know that even a few hours will help."

"I can't, Amanda, what if she wakes up while I'm not here."

"Jesse, I'll sit here until two in the morning, then I'll send for you, ok? Go down to the sleep room. I promise you, if anything happens between now and then I will send somebody for you, I won't leave her alone."

Jesse nodded. He stood up, leant over and kissed Rae on the forehead, hugged Amanda and left the room. Before he even realised it he was in the sleep room. As he lay down he thought of a problem. He picked up his cell phone and rang Steve's number. "Steve, are you at home? … Oh, look you have a key to Rae's place don't you… could you go and feed Kira for her… thanks, buddy… No, no change."

That done, Jesse lay down. He shut his eyes and fell instantly to sleep. At two in the morning Amanda got a nurse to check on him. Following the orders she had received, the young nurse left Jesse where he was, fast asleep. There had been no change, and Amanda knew that she would be able to deal with Jesse in the morning, when he had got the amount of sleep he needed. She leant back on the couch at the back of Rae's room and shut her eyes. She had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be the start of a very difficult time for all of them.

Jesse woke up with a start, for an instant he had no idea where he was. Then as his senses returned to him he checked his watch, stared at it in disbelief and headed for the ICU.

Amanda was awake; she was sat by Rae's bedside, talking softly to her friend. As Jesse entered the room he heard her talking about CJ and what sounded like a school test result. 

"Amanda, what happened to two in the morning?" 

"You slept right through it. Jess, I sent a nurse down to check on you, you were fast asleep. There hasn't been any change, so I just let you sleep. You know that you would have done the same thing if it had been Mark or me down there."

Jesse nodded. "Yeah, but that doesn't seem to count when it's Rae in that bed." He walked over towards her and Amanda moved away a little so that he could get closer. "There hasn't been any change, not even a little one?"

Amanda shook her head. "Jesse, I would have got you, you know that." As she spoke she turned round and saw Mark and Alex standing by the door. 

"Hi, honey, Jesse, I need to see Rae, can you wait outside?" Mark moved over to them. He had to be businesslike, because he knew that otherwise he would have to hand her care over to somebody else, and he didn't think that Jesse would agree to that.

Jesse and Amanda moved out of the room and stood with Alex. Amanda had her arm around Jesse, and Alex could see that she was almost holding him up.

Mark checked Rae to see if he could get any responses at all from her, but everything was the same as the last time he had checked. He walked back out to the three friends standing in the hallway and shook his head. "There's no change, Jesse. I am going to prep her for another set of x-rays and CT scan, to make sure that there is no further bleeding occurring in the brain." He stopped talking, and balling his hands into fists he thrust them into his pockets. "Steve told me what happened to her, Jesse. I think you should prepare yourself for the fact that if she does regain consciousness, she may not be a Rae you recognise."

"No, Mark, I can't do that, not yet. I'll face that if I have to, but right now, I don't have to so I just won't." Jesse turned and headed back into the room, he sat down in the chair and took Rae's hand in his own. Then he placed his head on the bed and began to cry.

Amanda went to join him, but as she moved she saw Steve coming down the hallway. She walked up to him. "Steve, Jesse is in with Rae, I think he needs a friend right now."

Steve looked in through the door, and seeing his friend's trembling shoulders walked in squatted down and placed a hand on his back. Jesse raised a tear stained face and looking into the eyes of his best friend began to sob uncontrollably.

"Oh, God, Steve… I can't believe this is happening… What will I do if she dies?"

"Shhh, Jess, come on buddy. You know how long I was in here, it hasn't been twenty-four hours yet, she'll come back to you, you have to believe that."

Jesse smiled weakly at Steve. "I hope you're right, Steve, because I don't think I can live without her."

"Can you come outside just a minute? I have some news for you all." Steve stood up and Jesse followed him out. "First of all the news of Rae's attack is in the paper this morning, I just thought you should know. But the main news is that we had a big break looking for the guy that did that to Rae." Steve's eyes wandered back towards her room. "The arrogance of these activists is staggering. They were filming their assault on Candi Worthington's funeral! On the film is Rae's attack. All we have to do is identify the person holding the placard and we've got him. We can't actually see the whole of his face but with what we do have I'm sure there will be no problem. They are all in custody, so it shouldn't take long to work out who it is."

"So, what are you doing here, get and book him. And you can take me with you. I want to look him in the eye."  As he realised that he could do more for Rae than just wait and worry Jesse seemed to grow about three inches in front of them all. 

"No, Jesse, there is no way you are coming with me. I want to be able to present this guy to the courts standing upright, not in a box. Besides Rae needs you here." Steve paused. "Jesse, it's only because I have a picture of this guy, who wasn't wearing a mask by the way, that I know who he is. He wasn't one of the guys who invaded the station, or Worthington Laboratories, and these activists are very loyal to each other, without the film we may have never found out who did this to her."

Jesse shrank back inside himself again. "Oh." He turned and walked back into Rae's room, and sat down. 

Amanda and Mark looked in and then at each other. "We need to make sure that one or other of us comes up and checks on Jesse about every hour or so."

"Count me in too, Mark, I'll come up as well." Alex looked in at the ER doctor that he admired so much, and Rae as she lay motionless on the bed. "I saw her leave the ball early on Saturday night, I guess they were having problems, Jesse must feel so bad right now."

"He does, Alex, but they'll get over it." Amanda looked at him and Alex knew not to ask any more.

Steve headed back to the precinct. He had phoned Amanda's house and knew that Ron was planning to stay at least a couple more days. He had arranged to meet with him in the squad room after he had spoken to the Chief.

Steve knocked on the door to Chief Master's office and entered. "Good morning, Sir."

"Lieutenant, please sit down." Steve sat directly in front of his boss and waited.

"I understand that you have a film of what happened yesterday. I want you to hand it over to Detective Robertson, he will be looking into the attack on Detective Yeager."

Steve stood up. "With all due respect, Sir…"

"With all due respect, Lieutenant, there is no way that you will be able to keep an open mind about this case, you are way too involved. You will hand the film over to Detective Robertson, and then you will concentrate on the Worthington murder and break in. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sir." Steve sat back down, he knew that there was no point in arguing, the Chief was right.

"Agent Wagner will be returning to Quantico by the end of the week, I want you to work with him until his departure, he needs all the information on what went missing both at the Worthington home and at their laboratories. You will assist him with that, and Detective Yeager will need you to take your turn on guard for at least two or three hours every day." The Chief smiled slightly. "How is she, Lieutenant? I haven't been able to get through on the phone this morning yet."

"Just the same as last night, Sir. There is no response to any stimuli, Dad has arranged for her to be re-scanned and for another skull x-ray. She has a fractured skull, and when I was in the ambulance with her there was blood on the bed underneath her." Steve stopped talking. He felt suddenly weary, and wanted to contact Jo, he just needed to hear her voice.

"Are you making any headway with Mrs. Worthington's murder, Lieutenant?"

"No, Sir, but…" as Steve was speaking an idea struck him. "If these fanatics took a video of their attack on Mrs. Worthington's funeral then I'm sure that somewhere there is a film of the meeting that all our suspects were supposed to be at and even…." He shuddered at the thought "of the murder."

"Well then, Lieutenant, you'd better get back to work. Oh, don't forget to hand that video over to Robertson, and Sloan, if you go anywhere near the man who was responsible for the attack you will answer to me, understand?"

"Yes, Sir." Steve looked at his boss, he knew that he was saying this for his own good, but he still didn't like it.

"You don't have to like what I'm saying, Lieutenant, but you do have to abide by it. You are dismissed."

Steve walked back towards his desk. The man was a mind reader. Ron was sitting waiting for him.

"How is she, Steve? Amanda stayed all night at the hospital with her. It seems to me that she has made quite an impression on all of you since she has been here."

"Yeah, she has. She's a good cop, I told you that, but it's more than that. She's friendly, open and it never felt like she was new here, more like she had always been around."  Steve suddenly thought of something, picked up his phone and dialled an internal extension. "Hello, Jan, it's Steve Sloan…"

Jan Burlington was sitting at her desk looking through the details of an attack in broad daylight in a nearby shopping mall when her phone rang. "Hello, Officer Burlington… Oh, hi, Steve… Oh, my… how is she…? And Jesse…? What happened…? Look if I get a chance I'll go over and sit with her for a while…Steve keep me informed if there's any change…Ok, bye." Jan put the phone back down. She took a deep breath. She had read about the Worthington murder and also had heard about what had happened to Martin Robertson. But for this to happen to Rae after everything else. She shook her head. There was nothing she could do except visit and talk to her friend, she would make sure she did that real soon. Feeling better having made a decision she turned back to the case on her desk.

Steve put the phone down and looked over at Ron once again. "I need to know what it is you want from me on this case, because I have other things I have to do." Steve had raised his voice as he spoke and Ron could see a few heads raised from their tasks as Steve finished speaking.

"Steve, listen to me. Calm down. I know you are upset, and you are welcome to take it out on me, I'm going back to Quantico at the weekend, but you have to work with me until then, and we are gonna do things right, got it?"

"So talk to me! What do you want, or is it so secret that I have to work in the dark?"

"Some of it is, but what I need to do is go over to Worthington Laboratories and find out what was on the CD ROMs that were taken both from there and Worthington's home. Can you do that with me without losing it?"

Steve stood up. "There's no time like the present then." He stalked off before Ron could say another word and the FBI agent had no choice but to race after him.

Jo sat at her desk and tried to get her head around what had happened to her over the last few days. She had been combining one of the most wonderful things that had occurred in a long time with two of the worst, and she felt as if she was two people living the same life. She sighed and looked back down at the list of things she had to do. James had asked her to cancel all his appointments until further notice. She had to write to all their contacts informing them that any business arrangements would be done via e-mail, phone or post for the foreseeable future. James had also told her that he wouldn't be in the office for at least the rest of the week and that he wanted her to cover for him until he felt he could return. Then he had slipped on his white coat and headed for the lab. 

As Jo ticked off two names from her list she heard a voice at the front desk. She stood up and walked towards it, and her heart began to race as she saw Steve standing with another man talking with the security guard.

"Steve." She smiled at him, and her day got brighter. "How is Rae? I couldn't get her out of my mind all evenin' but I didn't want to intrude by comin' back over."

"There is no change, I'm going over to see her from here, you can come with me if James doesn't mind." Steve walked over and kissed her on the cheek. He whispered to her as he did so. "I've missed you, are you busy tonight?"

"No. Mr. Wagner, I recognize you from Saturday night, how are you this mornin'? However, I don't know why you are here."

"I'm fine. I'm sorry, I didn't realise that you worked here. I need to see Mr. Worthington, and probably his secretary too." Ron took out his ID and showed it to Jo.

"Oh, my. Well, that's me, I'm his secretary. He's in the lab, if you would like to come into my office, I will ring down to him."

Steve and Ron sat and waited in the office while James Worthington came back up to the room. Steve was shocked by his appearance; he seemed to have aged considerably overnight.

"Good morning, Steve, tell me how is Rae? That was a dreadful thing yesterday, dreadful. To defile a funeral like that, these people have no shame, and that attack was quite the worst thing I have ever seen, terrible, terrible."

"Did you actually see it happen, Mr. Worthington?" Steve looked over at him; he had thought that he had been back inside the church when Rae was assaulted. 

"I looked out to see what had happened to the… coffin. I couldn't bear the thought of those animals touching it. I saw you fire your gun to get them away from it, thank you for that. But as I looked out I saw this thug with a placard in his hand. 'Animals have rights too' it said on it. As Rae moved across towards him, he turned it round in his hand so that he was holding the thick wooden stake as a weapon and as she passed he rammed it into her skull. She dropped to the ground; I don't think she knew she had even been hit. Terrible, as I said, terrible." James finally seemed to run out of words, to distraught to realise that he had been repeating himself. 

Steve had been writing quickly as James Worthington spoke. "If I get this typed up as a statement would you sign it for me? When the person responsible for this comes to court it will help put him away."

Jo stood up. "Would you like me to type that out for you now, Steve? Then James could sign it before you leave today." 

"Thank you, that would be a great help…I'll come and tell you how it should be set out. This isn't my case, but I will pass it over to the Detective responsible for it. He will need you both to come and see the mug shots that were taken of the activists arrested at the funeral."

Ron cleared his throat. "Mr. Worthington, I'm Agent Ron Wagner, FBI. I need to speak to you about the computer discs that were taken from here and your home. Especially with regard to the government contracts that your company has, is there somewhere private where we could discuss this?"

James Worthington looked a little shocked, but he stood. "Yes certainly, my office is this way. Jo, could you arrange for some refreshments, in about, ooh, say a half hour?"

"Yes, Sir." Jo watched with concern as her boss walked towards his office door with Ron. She wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. _Honey, face it you can't take much more of it yourself._ She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to find Steve looking at her with concern, and much more in his eyes.

Jesse was waiting for Rae to be bought back to the room after her second set of x-rays and CT scans. He checked his watch again, she had been gone for ninety minutes, but it seemed to him more like ninety years. As she had been pushed out of the room he had noticed that the bed had a squeaky wheel, he had been listening for that sound ever since. As he moved over to the window he heard it, and rushed out of the door. Mark and Alex were with the orderlies who were wheeling her back in. "Mark, what took so long? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Jesse, let's just get her settled, and then I'll talk to you. The orderlies pushed the bed back into place, and plugged her back into all her monitors. The portable ventilator was disconnected and soon Rae was attached to all the machines in the room and they left.

Jesse put his hand over Rae's and waited for Mark to talk, but he didn't get the chance. As Jesse sat down he felt Rae's fingers move. "Mark, Mark, she's moving her fingers. Rae, honey, can you hear me?" Jesse looked at Rae, but her eyes were still closed, and there was no response.

"She did that in the x-ray room, Jesse, and she opened her eyes."

"And… and then what?"

"She followed the light, Jess, then she closed her eyes, and they've been that way ever since."

"But she followed the light, she knew it was there?"

"Yes, Jesse, she knew it was there."

"Oh, thank God!" Jesse felt a tear slide down his face, but he didn't care. Suddenly he felt her fingers move again. He turned to her and saw her eyelids flicker. "Rae, honey, it's Jess, it's all right, everything will be all right now."

Mark put his hand on Jesse's shoulder. "Jess, come outside for a moment with me, Alex will stay with her."

Jesse looked back at Rae, her eyes were closed now, but somehow she already looked different to him. "Rae, I'm just going to leave the room for a minute, but Alex is here, and he will stay with you. If you need me squeeze his hand and I'll come back, ok? Slowly her eyes opened again, just for a second and then they closed, but Jesse was elated. He stood up and moved out of the room; Alex sat down and took Rae's hand.

"Rae, it's Alex, it's me holding your hand now, ok? Jesse is just outside the door, he can still see you." He looked down at his friend, now all they had to do was wait, and then find out whether there was any permanent damage, he hoped with all his heart that they wouldn't find anything.

 "Jesse, she's doing fine, she is still in a coma, but we have had a little response and it has been less than twenty-four hours, I'm much happier with her prognosis now than I was even two hours ago. There was some bleeding inside the skull; but the swelling has begun to go down in the area where she was struck. She has been very lucky, Jess. But, and it is a big but, that doesn't mean that this is going to be an easy ride for her or you, this could be it, there could be no more improvement."

Mark went back into the room, but Jesse stayed out into the hallway for just a moment to himself. He had been so excited a moment ago, but now he felt as if his friend and mentor had just punched him in the chest, he was just about to turn and return to Rae's side when a nurse came up to him. 

"Excuse me, Dr. Travis, these flowers were delivered for Detective Yeager, it doesn't say on her chart if she is allergic to them or not."

"They're beautiful aren't they, do you know who they are from?"

"Somebody called…" the nurse checked the card. "Phil."

Jesse felt himself go cold all over; he sat down on the chair behind him. He couldn't believe this was happening on top of everything else. He wasn't sure how much more of this any of them could take. "No, Detective Yeager is to have no flowers. But I will take the card, then you can give them to another patient."

"Yes, Doctor." The nurse handed over the small piece of white card and headed back the way she had come. Jesse stayed on the seat outside Rae's door and looked at the words on the front.

_To My darling Rae,_

_I so want to be there to help you recover, but it won't be long before we can be together again, forever._

_Love Phil_

_xxx_

Steve was sitting with Jo waiting for Ron to come back out of James' office when his cell phone rang. "Sloan here…Jesse… Oh thank God… What? No, Jesse I'll sort it out…I can get on to the prison and get them to check his mail and calls…Yes, we'll be over in a while… Jess, look after yourself too, ok?"

"What, Steve was that about Rae?"

Steve nodded. "She's started to come round. She opened her eyes for a short while and moved her fingers. She is still technically in her coma, but her prognosis is better now."

"How can she still be in a coma?"

"Because she can't do anything, she has no voluntary control over what she does. She can't get up and walk out of that room, or sit up, or eat or respond to instruction, anything like that. But Jesse said that she could open her eyes by herself and that is a start. She will be alright… she has to be." 

Jo wasn't sure if Steve was trying to convince himself or her, she was about to ask him why he needed to contact the prison when the door was flung open and Ron came out of the main office, with a face like thunder. James Worthington followed him out, his eyes blazing.

"Miss Walters, Steve, I apologise for being such a long time, but we have encountered a few problems. I need to talk to both of you, in the other room, but before I do, I need you to realise the confidentiality requirements of this. Nothing, and I mean nothing that is discussed in there is to be repeated, is that clear?"

"Ron, you know I understand that, what is going on?"

"Miss Walters, do you understand that?"

"Yes, Sir, I do." Jo got up and taking Steve by the hand, so that there could be no misunderstanding the fact that they were together, she moved towards the door and entered the office. Ron followed behind them, but she noticed that James went off in the other direction.

"I have told Mr. Worthington that he should double check all his security systems, and then lock up this facility and go home for a few days while the FBI take over in here." Ron paused and looked at the two people sitting in front of him. He was used to being in control of situations, and this was no different, but he had a feeling that he was going to shock both Steve and Jo with what he had to say.

"The computer discs that were taken from Mr. Worthington's home are no longer of consequence; they were family information, accounts, that sort of thing. However, the discs from here are an entirely different matter. Worthington Laboratories has been undertaking government contracts for the last ten years, and we have never had any cause for concern. Today though, I am extremely concerned. The discs that have gone missing cover a great many subjects, again accounts, contacts, unfortunately the names and addresses of all the scientific staff members, their bank account details, wages, social security numbers they are all now in the hands of the activists, but more dangerous even than that…" Ron paused; Jo had a look of horror on her face.

"That means that nobody who works here is safe. All our details are now available to these, these weirdoes. You know what they did to Mrs. Worthington, an' to Rae… My, God, we are all potential victims now."

"I didn't say that, Miss Walters. The scientific staff is in considerable danger, but the office and security staff details were kept on a different disc and that is still here. There are ways to reduce the danger that they will find themselves in, and I will go through that with them in a while, but the main worry, for me at any rate, is that they have got discs that have the formulae on them for certain substances which in the wrong hands would be very dangerous. They also have the cure for some of them, although some of them don't have antidotes yet, and I have just been informed that not only have the original discs gone, but also the backup ones. If some of these substances are released we don't have the ability to counteract them!"

"What sort of substances are we talking about here? Things like mutated viruses, or threats to crops, what?" Steve was horrified. He could understand why Ron looked so angry; the security in this place must be non-existent.

"I thought all our discs were password protected. Whenever I put anything on security discs I always protected it." Jo looked at Ron and waited for his answer.

"How did you choose your passwords, Miss Walters?"

"I picked a word out of the air. But I also have a disc which has all the passwords on, an' I do have a set password for that." She looked at him, she didn't know what else to say.

"Could you tell me the password for any of your discs without the password disc?"

"No, Sir, an' I have two password discs, one is here an' the other one is at home in a cd case by my cd player. Why?"

"I can't give you too many details, but I will give you an example. One of the discs that has been stolen has the details of a strain of beetle, which can be enhanced to ravage potato crops. This was the first disc that was copied this year and so on it, in black pen apparently, is the word 'One'. The password for this disc is…" Ron waited.

"I have no idea, but if you are askin' me about my passwords, I guess Shirley in the lab doesn't do things like I do. Is it a simple code?" 

Ron just nodded at her, and then took a breath. "It is so simple a child could work it out, Miss Walters, so can you tell me now?"

"If it is simple an' it has one written on the disc, I would guess that the password is one."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding. I hate computers, but even I can think up a better password than that." Steve looked at Ron with horror in his eyes as he realised from his friend's face that the password was indeed one.

"I have to get back to Quantico tonight, to find out what I can about the research that was being carried out here. I will have six agents here within the hour, Miss Walters, to search this place from top to bottom and lock it down so tight that air won't be able to get in. I hope you have other things you can do for the next few days."

Jo looked over at Steve and winked, then she turned serious once again and spoke to Ron. "Yes, Sir, I will have plenty to do. I am no scientist, I'm pleased to say, an' I have no idea what went on in the laboratories. I came here on a temporary contract, an' I only stayed because I liked workin' with James. Sometimes I felt a little left out, not understandin' what everybody was talkin' about. Now I couldn't be more pleased that I am a scientific idiot."

Ron stood up. "I am going to seal off this building, so if you have anything in here that you wish to use over the next week I suggest that you remove it, now."

Jo and Steve also stood. "No, I don't keep anythin' here, I will just get my purse an' we'll get out of your hair." Jo left the room and Steve looked at Ron.

"This is serious isn't it? Was there germ warfare experimentation going on here?"

"No, not the kind you mean that can wipe out a complete village in twenty four hours, but investigations into the type of pathogens and bugs that terrorists might use on us, and how we could infiltrate and eliminate the threat, that was being checked here, as well as agricultural germ warfare. Crops that never grow into a harvestable crop, so causing famine, or seeds that leak toxins into the soil thus preventing it from being used in the future. Things that can cause a natural disaster at a pre-decided time."

"My, God, Ron, how can you sleep at night, knowing that these things are going on? How could Worthington?" Suddenly the man went right down in his estimation, and he knew that he would have to make sure that Jo didn't know anything about it, before he could go out with her again. 

Steve followed Jo out to her office and closed the door after him. "Jo, honey, I need to talk to you, and I don't want to make you cross or upset, but there are a couple of things that I need to know."

"Did I know what was happenin' here an' did I know what type of work was goin' on right under my nose?" Jo looked at him for a second.

"Yeah, do you do mind reading on the side?" Steve smiled at her, he was in a mind reading mood himself, and he had a feeling that he already knew her answer.

"No, Steve, I had no idea we even undertook contracts for the government. I was James' secretary, but I didn't deal with his scientific work, just his day-to-day correspondence, an' his social diary, that sort of thing. It would have made a difference to you if I had known wouldn't it?"

"Yes, it would."

"Good, 'cause I don't think I would want anythin' to do with a man who didn't care."

Steve smiled, "I'm glad. Well, I can't tell you what Ron just told me, but at least this place is gonna be shut for a while. Come on sweetie, let's go."

It took them just over forty minutes to drive to the precinct and then they waited another five minutes before the mug shots were brought to Steve's desk. Martin was busy so Steve and Jo sat and went through the pictures together. There were twenty-five of them.

Jo ran her hand over her eyes and returned to the beginning of the photos to look through them for a third time. "Honey, I'll look again, but I know he isn't here."

"What do you mean, he isn't here?" Steve looked at her with disbelief. "He has to be here, these are all the people who were arrested at the funeral.

"Well, then your men missed one, he must have got away, darlin', because the man I saw just isn't here."

Steve ran his fingers through his hair. He couldn't believe that they had let Rae down like this. "I was so sure we had him. Dammit, Jo, are you certain?"

"Honey, I want to get this guy too. Do you think I wouldn't tell you if I thought any of 'em looked even a little like him?"

"I'll get the sketch guy up here. Can you give him enough for a picture?"

"Sure, an' he can always check it with James when it's finished."

Jo worked with the artist for just over an hour. By the end of the time she was happy that the picture looked very like the man who had attacked Rae. Once she was left to herself again Jo looked around for Steve. "Steve, I'm finished. It's time to go see Rae."

Steve had got up and was looking out over the squad room. He didn't seem to hear her and so she stood up and moved over to him.

"Steve. Let it go. You know this isn't your case. Leave it."

"Maybe you're right, if I am around when he is finally caught, I won't be responsible for my actions. Come on, let's get out of here." Steve caught her by the hand and strode out of the room. Jo found herself running to keep up with him, but she didn't try to slow him down.

They drove in separate cars to Community General and then walked together to the ICU.  They sat with Jesse and Rae for almost two hours before they went home. They told him that the activist responsible for Rae's condition had got away, but neither of them was sure if he even took it in. Rae moved her fingers a few times, but there wasn't really any more change. 

"Jesse, I'm gonna run Jo home, would you like me to come back so that you can get some sleep?"

"No, I slept last night, thanks to Amanda, I'll be fine tonight. Thanks, Steve, but maybe you could come back tomorrow, just for a while?"

"Sure, no problem." They walked together out to the parking lot; Jo was cuddled right in close to Steve.

"She will be all right, won't she, Steve?"

"She has to be, Jo, too many people love and need her for her not to be."


	7. Chapter 7 Broken Wings

Broken Wings 

Steve and Jo both had fitful, sleepless nights, and when they met up at the hospital the following morning they were both fearful of what they might find.

When they arrived Jesse was dozing in the chair. Steve put a hand on his shoulder and he stirred. "Hey, Steve."

"Any change, Jess?"

"No, nothing, nothing at all. But could you come out into the hallway for a minute?" They walked out of Rae's room together and then Jesse turned to them. "This came." He held out an envelope, and Steve could see that he had put a pair of latex gloves on.

"It's from him, isn't it?" Steve didn't really need to ask. Jesse just nodded, and Steve pulled an evidence bag out of his pocket. "I don't know that we can do much about it, but we need to make sure that Rae doesn't know he is doing this."

"I know, that's why we are outside the door. I wouldn't have known it was from him if I hadn't been opening all her cards. When she comes round this could have a devastating effect on her." Jesse looked worried.

"Between us we will keep it from her. I can get a court order so that her mail is delivered to the station, or to your apartment, so she won't know he is doing this. If he sends any more maybe we can get him for harassment." Steve slid the evidence bag in his pocket; he had no interest in seeing what it said right now.

"Honey, would one of you like to tell me what is goin' on here?" Jo looked at the two friends, she could see that they were both extremely concerned about something, but she had no idea what.

"I'll tell her, Jess, you go back in." Steve sat Jo down on the chair by the door and as Jesse sat back next to Rae he could see them deep in conversation. 

"Hi, honey, I'm back, I'm sorry I had to just pop out for a minute." He stroked her hand and tried to get the picture of Phil Levington out of his mind.

Through the day Jesse was joined by Mark, Alex and Jan, they all helped him as he sat there watching the woman he loved, they knew they couldn't say or do anything, but by rallying round, and being with him they let him know he wasn't alone.

Jesse went for a couple of hours in the sleep room just after six, but he was back with her by eight thirty. He had sent everybody else home, and he made himself comfortable for a long night.

Jesse was still sitting with Rae the next morning as Steve and Jo arrived back at the hospital. As they knocked on the door, Steve looked into the room, he was sure that some of the machines had gone, and to his relief he could see that Rae was no longer on the ventilator.  They could hear Jesse talking to her. He turned and smiled at them.

"Hi, come in. I'm glad to see you. I'm running out of things to talk about."

"You, Jess? I didn't think you would ever run out of things to say!" Steve cuffed his friend on the shoulder; most of the worry lines seemed to have disappeared from his face since he had seen him last night. 

Rae must have heard the new voice in the room, because she began to stir in the bed as Steve spoke. Jesse felt her hand move underneath his and turned back to her.

"Rae, honey, we have visitors, Steve and Jo are here."

Slowly Rae opened her eyes, and this time she kept them open. Jesse beamed. She had done it for him about an hour ago, and had spoken to him. He had told Mark and Alex, but nobody else.

"Steve…? I'm… sorry." Rae spoke slowly and faintly.

"Rae? Oh, honey, I'm so pleased to hear your voice." Steve moved towards her, he couldn't believe how relieved he was to hear her. He hadn't realised how much truth had been in his words when he had told Jo that too many people loved and needed her for her not to recover.

"What… hap… pened?" Rae looked at Steve and her face was troubled.

"It doesn't really matter right now, you just have to rest and get better. When you are a little stronger we can talk about it, ok, partner?" Steve was gently stroking her hand as he talked and Rae smiled slightly at him.

"If… you… say… so… par… par… part… Steve." 

For a minute Steve went cold. Rae couldn't say what she wanted to. He knew she would have problems, but he was trying to hide away from that. "I do. Now, I am gonna take Jesse for a cup of coffee and some food, because I'll bet he hasn't eaten in hours, and Jo is gonna stay and talk to you, ok?"

Rae looked puzzled as she spoke to Steve. "Ok." and shut her eyes again.

Steve turned to Jo. "Is that alright?"

"Of course, you go an' get some food, an' I'll still be here when you get back." Jo smiled at the two friends, and then took her place by the bed. She had seen the puzzled look on Rae's face, and she had a feeling she knew why she looked like that.

"Rae, honey, do you know who I am?"

Rae opened her eyes. "I'm… not… sure…Steve?"

"Yep, that's right, I'm Steve's girlfriend an' your friend. But we only just met a little while ago, I guess that's why you don't remember."

Rae smiled again, and looked at Jo. "Texas… Sleepy."

"You sleep then, honey, an' Texas is right here. You do remember me."

Steve and Jesse returned about half an hour later. Rae was still asleep, but they could all see that she was different from how she had been the day before. Jesse wanted to wake her, just to see if he could, but he knew that Mark would be in later, and he would do it for him. Steve and Jo stayed with Jesse for most of the morning, so that he had some company and someone to share his hopes and fears with. They sat just outside the door in the hallway so that they could talk quietly without disturbing Rae.

"Jess, Jo and I are gonna head off now, if you need anything just call. We're gonna go and pick up Rae's kitten and Jo will keep it at her place for a while, even calling in to feed her the other night had me sneezing, rubbing my eyes and needing my tablets."

"I never gave that a thought, thanks, Steve. Jo, there is kitten food under the sink, and all the kitty litter is in the box behind the bin. The travel cage is what she uses as her house so that is out in the living area."

"Jesse, don't you worry none. I'll sort it all out an' the little gal will be fine with me. See ya tomorrow."

They walked hand in hand down the hallway and Jesse watched them go. Then he went back into Rae's room and sat next to her. 

Steve and Jo headed over to Rae's apartment and opened the door. As soon as he entered the room Steve began to sneeze. "Atishoo, Jo, honey, I'll have to Atishoo, have to wait outside." He backed out of the room and waited in the hallway. Five minutes later Jo came out with the kitten in her travel cage and a bag containing the food. 

"Steve, could you go in now an' get the kitty litter tray an' the stuff to put in it?" Steve nodded and went back into the room. Almost instantly Jo could hear him sneeze. "Honey, you are gonna have to pick me up an' drop me off at the bottom of my driveway until Rae can reclaim her kitty. I'll go an' wait in my car, then you won't get too near her."

After Jo had dropped the kitten and all her stuff off at her house, while Steve sat watching from the road they drove out towards the beach house. They both pulled in outside the house and Jo got out of her car. "Wow, so this is where a cop lives in Malibu. Very nice."

"Thank you. Come on then, let's go and sit on the beach for a while. It's just after three, I will even cook you dinner, if you like. I know Dad will want to stay with Rae for as long as he can, so it will be just the two of us."

Jo took Steve's hand, and they headed down to the sand. Five minutes later they were watching the waves break gently onto the shore. 

"You know Jesse and Rae had their first date on this beach. Sometimes it seems so long ago, and other times just yesterday." Steve looked at Jo. "I'm glad you're here with me." He put his hand up to her face and slowly he began to kiss her. Jo leant over him and he lay back in the sand. Her hair was soft and bouncy between his fingers, and her scent was wonderful. After a while he moved away from her. "Jo, honey, I need to talk to you."

"What do you need to say?" Jo looked at him perceptively.

"I know you told me that you didn't know what was going on at Worthington Laboratories, but I just need to know that you have told me everything that you do know about the place, so that I can forget all about it and concentrate on us."

"Shhh. I have told you everythin' that I can think of. If there is anythin' else, then I don't know I know it, ok?"

"Yeah, ok. Sorry, cop's nature coming out."

"I know, now quit talkin' I have other things on my mind."

Steve waved Jo off at ten that evening. He had cooked her a simple pasta dish and they had eaten it out on the deck and talked about a hundred different things. He knew more about her now, and she him. He liked what he knew and had arranged to meet with her the next day when he finished work.

The phone rang as Steve walked back into the house. "Sloan here… Dad, hi…No, Jo was here, but she just left… Oh, that's great…Yeah, I'm gonna go to bed now, I'll see you in the morning… Give her a kiss from me… Goodnight dad." Steve walked down towards his own apartment with a smile on his face. Life had improved no end today. All he needed now was a break in the Worthington case and he would be a happy man.

Mark headed back into the ER after speaking to his son. He had a big grin on his face. 

"You're looking happy, Doctor Sloan."

Mark looked at the young intern who had spoken to him. "Yeah, I'm good." _And so is she. Jo Walters is very good for my son._

Rae improved enormously over the next few days, and by the Sunday she was sitting up and waiting for Jesse to come and visit with her. She was having serious problems with her speech and although she understood most things that were said to her, it took her a while to process the meanings of the words and then reply, so conversations took a long time. Mark had said that she probably would be this way for quite a long time, but everything else seemed to be ok. She was on medication and Mark had told her that she would almost certainly get some headaches and mood swings, which would be more severe when she came off it, but she knew she was lucky to be alive and she thought she could cope with that.

Jesse came into the room with a smile on his face. "Hi, beautiful, how are you this morning?"

"Fine…thank… you." Rae smiled. Each word was an effort, but she knew she would get a little quicker. She still couldn't remember what had happened to her, and Jesse had said that she might never remember. 

"I… want to… get up." Rae looked at him.

"I know, and Mark said that you could this morning. So, shall we give it a try? Slowly, you might feel dizzy, or a bit weird."

"Ok." Rae pushed the sheets back and looked at Jesse. All of a sudden she was afraid.

"You… will… help?"

"Of course. Now, give me your hands and slowly get to your feet." Jesse put out his hands and Rae took them. Then she gradually stood up.

For a moment the room swam and Rae swayed slightly. Jesse sat her back on the bed and waited for her to recover her senses. Then slowly he pulled her to her feet once more. "Jesse." Rae smiled and moved one foot slightly forward. Then she moved the other one, wobbled a bit and grinned. "Good?"

"Very good. Shall we try for the chair?" Jesse let go with one hand and put it around the back of her and took her arm. That way Rae could see the chair she was aiming for.

Rae took four slow steps and then stopped. "Turn round."

"Ok, you wanna get technical, huh? Here we go." 

Between them, they got Rae's feet to do what she wanted them to and she sank into the chair. Her face was full of delight. "I … did… it."

Mark came into the room. "You certainly did, and I watched all of it. Well done." 

Jesse turned round. "Mark, could you stay with her just for a little while?"

"Sure, Jess, are you all right?"

"Yeah fine, Mark." Jesse fled the room and headed for Amanda's lab.

Amanda was just finishing up the report on an autopsy that had taken her all morning. There was a bug at a neighbouring old people's home, and she had been asked to make sure that the suspicions of the local health officer that it was salmonella were right. Amanda agreed with him.

She straightened up and stretched her arms out in front of her and clasped her hands together. As she relaxed again Jesse came in through the door. "Jess, what's the matter?"

Jesse's face was contorted with so many mixed emotions that he couldn't answer her question.

"Jesse, is it Rae?"

"Yeah. I just helped her to walk across from her bed to the chair, four steps, but I couldn't congratulate her on it. Last weekend we were gliding across the dance floor at the ball, now … she's like a bird with broken wings, practically helpless." Jesse turned round and kicked at an empty box that Amanda had just put by the door for disposal.

"Jesse, I know that this is hard for you, it's hard for everyone, but especially you. You know that underneath she is still the same person; you just have to help her to find herself again. Every step she takes, every word that she says, however slow it all is, is getting her closer to her old self again." Amanda moved closer to Jesse and gave him a hug. He didn't resist, he stayed in her arms for a short while and then pulled away.

"Thank you, Amanda, I guess I just needed somebody to put it into perspective for me. I'll go back up now."

"I'll be up myself in about an hour when my shift ends. We can sit together or I can take over for a while if you like."

"Together would be nice. I'll see you then." Jesse went and walked around the grounds for a little while and then he began the walk back up to Rae's room. He felt more positive now that Amanda had talked to him. He was smiling when he walked back into the intensive care suite but Rae wasn't there. Instead there was a note stuck to the bed. 

"Meet me in room 203, Rae." The writing was child like, but Jesse knew that it was Rae's; he turned and walked back the way he had just come.

Rae was sitting in a chair with a big smile on her face when he entered. "Hi…handsome." 

"Rae, honey, are you all right?"

"Yes." She smiled again. She seemed different to him from even the hour or so before when he had been with her. 

"What happened?"

"Steve came… my…par… partner." 

Jesse grinned. She hadn't been able to say that word since the accident. None of them could work out why, it wasn't a particularly difficult one, but it had caused her to get very upset every time she saw Steve.

"Jesse… I love…you." 

Jesse couldn't grin any more, the tears slid down his face and he moved over to hug her. It was the first time that Rae had said that to him since her accident. All of a sudden it didn't matter to him that it was an achievement for her to walk to a chair, or that she couldn't do the things she used to do. Amanda was right, she was still his Rae, and nothing could change that.

Rae improved quite quickly after that, and by the end of the next week she was ready to go home with Jesse. Her speech was still slow and she thought a long time before she spoke, her walking was slow and deliberate, but she could do all the tests that Mark had asked her to, and so far her headaches had been manageable. She knew that if Jesse hadn't been a doctor she would have had to stay longer in the hospital, but she really wanted to go home.

Jesse walked Rae gradually along the hallway to her apartment. It was almost two weeks since her accident, and they had both been eagerly awaiting Saturday morning so that they could do just what they were doing right now. "This is yours, honey, do you remember it?" Jesse waited.

"Yes… it's mine." Rae's speech had a child like quality to it, and she said just what she thought. It had made for some interesting conversations over the last two weeks, and Jesse had a feeling he would miss it when it went away.

"Do you want to open the door?"

"Yes." Rae nodded her head and held out her hand. It was steady, there was no motor damage, the speed would return. She pushed the key into the lock and turned it. The door swung open and Rae went in.

She walked slowly over to the sofa and sat down. Jesse saw her wipe a tear from her cheek and he shut the door and came over and sat next to her. "Honey, are you ok?"

"Home… I'm… home."

"Yes, you are, and I will stay here with you, until you are better, ok?"

Rae didn't say anything, she snuggled up to him, just like she had always done, and before long, Jesse realised that she was fast asleep. He smiled and eased himself gently into a more comfortable position, then he leant back in his seat and shut his own eyes. There was no reason for either of them to move until they needed to. With a smile on his face Jesse drifted slowly off to sleep himself.

It was lunchtime before either of them stirred. It was Rae who moved first. "Jesse… I'm stuck."

"What? Rae… Oh, sorry, honey, did you say something?"

"I'm stuck."

And he supposed she was. His arms were around her and he had been holding her for a long time. "Hey, it's almost one o'clock. Didn't Steve and Jo say they would be here at one?"

"Yes… one…now." And the doorbell rang, Rae smiled. "See."

Jesse got up and went over to the door. Steve was standing there. "Jess, I need one of those allergy pills, before I can come in here. I know I've been taking them so that I can still see Jo, but I ran out."

Jesse went and got his bag and handed a card of tablets over to his friend. "I got this filled for you yesterday, so that I had a packet here for you. Make sure you don't leave them when you go, ok?"

There was another tap on the door and Jo put her head around it. "Hi, can we come in now?" Jo looked at Rae and waited for her to answer.

"Hi... Texas." Rae pushed down on the sofa and stood up in one movement. Then she grinned. "Come in."

Steve looked at Jo and then Rae, "Texas? Rae, why do you call her Texas?"

"It's… her… name."

"No, it's Jo, honey, she comes from Texas, but her name is Jo."

"She's been callin' me Texas since she came round, I don't mind, in fact I kinda like it, but just from her."

Jo came into the room with the travel cage in her hand. Rae looked at it. She hadn't mentioned Kira all the time she had been in the hospital and they weren't sure if she remembered her or not.

"Kitten…Sneezes." Rae smiled at Steve. "My kitten… your sneezes."

Jo opened the cage, and a considerably larger kitten wandered out of the box. "Wow, she has really grown hasn't she?" Jesse looked at Kira; she seemed to be all legs. She headed straight for Steve and wound herself round his ankles.

"Oh, great. The only person in the room who is allergic to her and she makes a bee line for me."

Rae took a breath. "My dad… hated cats… my old cat…loved him… It was funny… She likes you… That's funny…too."

The three of them looked at her. Rae had just said her longest sentence so far. Steve looked at her and smiled. Maybe one day he would get his partner back.

Jesse headed for the kitchen. "Steve, Jo, would you like a drink, coffee, soda?"

"Coffee for me, Jesse, please, cream, no sugar." Jo smiled at him as she spoke.

"Yeah, coffee would be great, Jess." Steve turned to look at Rae as Jesse spoke again.

"Rae, would you like a drink, sweetie?"

"Yes… I want…"

"Herbal tea, Rae, you want herbal tea." Steve finished her sentence for her and was surprised to see tears spring up in her eyes. "Rae?"

"I'm…sorry."

"What for?" Steve looked puzzled. He had no idea why she was suddenly upset.

"For…taking…too long…to…talk." Suddenly Steve saw her mood change in front of him and she shouted each word. "But …I will…say…it myself!"

"Steve, I think Rae is cross because you spoke for her." Jesse moved across with two mugs in his hands.

Now Rae turned on Jesse. "I…will tell…him!"

Steve was instantly mortified. "Rae, I am so sorry. I promise I will never do that to you again, ok?" Rae smiled at him and Steve began to realise how quickly her moods could change. In a few minutes she had been happy sad and angry and then back to happy again. "If you want me to help you speak, you tell me, ok? Otherwise in the future I will wait for you."

"Jesse, I want you an' Steve to go off out, an' have a break. I will stay here with Rae, we have things to talk about, girlie things. You two need to go an' relax." She put her hand in her jeans. "I have here, two tickets for the ball game. I have no interest in goin' myself, an' Rae is busy, so I guess you two will just have to use them."

Jesse went to object "No, I can't maybe in a few weeks, but I need to be here with Rae…" 

Jo moved over and stood with her hands on her hips in front of him. She had a smile in her eyes but her voice was tight. "I would suggest that you don't mess with Texas!" 

Jesse went to speak again, but Steve stepped in. "Thank you, honey. We'll go, now. I'll come back here about ten tonight, ok?"

Jesse was led protesting out of the door; once he had kissed Rae and made sure that she understood where he was going. 

"Rae, sweetheart, Steve and I are going to the ball game, but Jo…"

Jesse was put firmly in his place when he started to explain.

"I know… I'm slow… not stupid…go away…now." She smiled. "Have… fun."

Jo picked up a toilet bag from where she had placed it on the carpet. She opened it up. Inside it were some eye packs a large toothed comb, a hairbrush and two packs of chocolate. "Now, honey, you an' I are gonna have a little pamperin'. Not too much, I checked with Mark, an' he said that this would be all right. These funny blue things go on your eyes, after they have cooled for a while, an' I know you love to have your hair brushed, so I am gonna do that for you too, then you can do it for me, ok?" Rae nodded and Jo went and put the masks in the refrigerator. 

Half an hour later, they were both leaning back on the sofa with the masks over their eyes. Kira was curled up next to Rae on one side and Jo had a hold of her hand so that she knew where she was, the chocolates had already disappeared and they were talking softly together.

"Rae, I need to ask you some questions about Steve, is that all right?"

"Yes."

Jo didn't wait for any more, she knew that Rae wouldn't say anything she didn't have to. "I want to ask him to my place for dinner, now that Kira is back home with you."

Rae giggled. "Sorry… poor Steve."

"Yeah, I don't know what to cook for him, or what I should wear, can you help me?"

"Yes."

The conversation took a little longer than it would normally have done, but by the time the men returned she had a far better idea of what to do. She knew that he was working until Wednesday so she had decided to cook for him then.

It was on the same Wednesday morning that Steve made a decision about the Worthington case. He went in to see the Chief and talk it through with him.

"Lieutenant, what can I do for you?" Chief Masters hadn't seen very much of him in the last few weeks, and he could see that his officer was looking strained and tired.

"I need to talk to you about the Worthington case, Sir. I have been working on it now for almost a month, and I am still no nearer to finding out who did it. Even when Rae and I were together there were so few leads that we had a feeling we would have to move away from it in the end."

"I see, and since you have been working with Detective Robertson on it your opinion hasn't changed?"

"No, Sir. I think that she was killed by one of the activists, but it's like getting an invitation to join the masons, there is no way that anybody is ever gonna break their code and let us know who it was. They all have cast iron alibis, we have tried everything we know to break them, but we can't. I'm sorry, Sir."

"Lieutenant, I wouldn't have been surprised if you had come and said all this to me about the time of Detective Yeager's accident. You have worked tirelessly on this case, and I appreciate all the extra hours you have put in. But I'm afraid that I agree with you. I'll give James a call and explain to him what we're doing. Who knows, maybe we will get lucky and solve it without actually meaning to."

Steve stood up. "Thank you, Sir. I appreciate your words."

"Lieutenant. I also realise that you have been under a lot of strain over the last few weeks. Now it is Wednesday morning. I suggest that you pack up all the Worthington papers and take them down to records, and then I am signing you off duty until Monday. You had better come back well rested, understand?"

"Yes, Sir…Thank you Sir…uh, I'll go then." Steve was speechless. He backed out of the room and returned to his desk quickly before the Chief could change his mind. An hour later he was in the parking lot getting into his car. He shut the door and looked out the window, he half expected somebody to come and stop him and say April fool, but they didn't and he drove away.

Steve arrived home just after lunch. He had called into Bob's and made up some sauce, and double-checked that he wasn't on duty that night. He was having dinner at Jo's and he had been looking forward to it all week.

He went into his apartment and picked up the phone, he dialled the familiar number and waited. "Doctor Sloan, please…Yes, I'll hold…Hi, Dad… no nothing's wrong, I'm just checking to see if you have any time off between now and Monday…none, huh, oh well never mind…No the Chief just gave me five days leave…Yeah I guess I will… she still isn't back at work…I don't think Worthington will open up again…Ok, I'll see you later."

Steve lay down on his bed, he tried to get his thoughts in order so that he could switch off and enjoy his vacation. Once Rae had been injured the department had thrown all the spare manpower they had behind the animal rights cases. He had co-ordinated everything, and had seemed to spend every minute of every day either working or with Rae. Jo had been spending time with Rae too; otherwise he would have hardly seen her. Martin Robertson had been assigned to work with him and Ron had come back from Quantico. It had got them exactly nowhere. This organisation, which didn't even have a name, as far as they could discover, was so well run, and so loyal to each other that they couldn't break it. Steve couldn't believe that nobody was disgusted by the death of Candi Worthington or the assault on Rae, but it seemed that that was the case. 

The man who had attacked Rae was still free. They had charged all the people who had been caught at the funeral, but somehow in the confusion her assailant had managed to slip away. Rae couldn't remember what had happened to her, and so had never asked about the person who had done it, Steve was glad, he didn't want to tell her that he was still out there, he didn't want to frighten her, and to him at least she seemed very vulnerable at the moment. He realised, for the first time, that she probably had no idea that one person was responsible for her condition.

Slowly the thoughts began to run together, and before he knew it Mark was shaking him by the shoulder. "Steve, it's six-thirty, don't you have a dinner appointment at eight?"

"What, Oh, Dad, what time did you say?"

"Six-thirty." Mark smiled at his son, he was tousled haired and looked just the way he had when he had to wake him up as a child.

"Thanks, I'd better get going then."

Steve straightened his tie as he walked up to Jo's front door. He'd had no idea how to dress for the evening, so had decided to go for the slightly more formal look. He'd been looking forward to this all day; in fact, he'd been surprised just how much. He put the flowers he was carrying into his right hand, reached up and rang the doorbell.

Jo's heart gave a little leap, he'd come, right up to now she hadn't been sure that he would, in his line of work he could have been called away at the last minute. She moved towards the sound and with a smile that wouldn't go away opened the door, just a crack.

"Jo, it's me, Steve." He watched as the door opened fully and then he just stared. "Wow, sweetheart, you look great." He was so glad that he had made an effort to look smart. Jo was standing before him in a perfectly plain dress, in a deep wine colour and with her hair piled up in a large clasp at the back of her head, she looked simply stunning.

"Well, don't just stand there, darlin', come on in." Jo was suddenly lost for words. They had been together for four weeks, and in that time the conversation had always flowed, but now… she put her arms around his neck and kissed him gently on the lips.

"Oh, these are for you. Beautiful flowers for a beautiful lady."  Steve remembered the flowers in his hand as he moved back from her embrace. He shuddered inwardly as he thought, Oh nice one, Sloan, you haven't used that line since you were sixteen. 

They walked hand in hand into the living area and Jo put the flowers down on the side. "Let me get some water for them, an' then if you're ready we can eat." She picked up a vase from the windowsill, which had some slightly sad looking roses in it and headed off to the kitchen. 

Steve took the chance to look around. He hadn't been in the house before. Even with the tablets he had steered clear while Kira was in residence. It was a nice room, there wasn't much furniture in it, but it looked as if what was here had been handed down from generation to generation. There was a beautiful walnut buffet along one wall, and the table, which was peeking out from underneath its cloth and crockery looked like it matched. When he had come into the entrance hall he had seen a dark wood staircase, which swept up and round to the first floor.  He turned as he heard her come back into the room and watched as she put his flowers on the windowsill, in place of the previous occupants.

 "Thank you, Steve, the flowers are glorious. I kept one out an' I'll press it. I like to keep a flower from special occasions."

"You should talk to Rae, she does that too, at least I think she does.  Come here, that dress deserves another kiss." _Well that was slightly better than the flower comment, loosen up! _ This time Steve had both his hands free. He so wanted to release her hair and run his fingers through it, but he contained himself. He hoped that he would have a chance to do that later.  His hands roamed over her back as he kissed her with a passion that surprised him. Slowly he pulled back and looked in her eyes. He still couldn't decide quite what colour they were, but right now they were smoky, and he knew that she felt just as he did.

"Honey, if we don't eat somethin' all my hard work is gonna spoil." Jo took Steve by the hand and led him back to the table that he had been admiring a little while before. 

"This is a beautiful table, Jo." Steve smiled at her as he pulled a chair out for her.

"It was my grandmamma's. No I won't sit down yet, I have to get the food." She turned and smiled at him. "I gave the butler the night off!" 

She left the room and Steve stood waiting for her to return. He could hear strange clanking noises before he could see her, but when he could he realised that she was pushing a trolley with all sorts of small plates on it.

 "I had no idea what you like to eat except barbeque, an' the pasta you cooked me that night at the beach. I asked Rae, an' she suggested we eat in the hospital canteen! I know we have been there a lot lately, but I think she is startin' to make jokes again." So I did a few small starters, an' I thought we could just pick at them an' you let me know which you like the best, then next time, I'll be better prepared." She stopped talking suddenly embarrassed, and started to put the food on the table. 

She had hardly paused for breath, and Steve realised how worried she was about everything, and he wanted to just hold her and kiss her again. But he knew now wasn't the time, so he smiled and just placed his hand over hers. "Well, I can't see anything that doesn't look good to me. I think I'm gonna like it all." At last Steve got the chance to pull the chair out and let Jo sit at the table, and then sitting himself, he picked up his napkin and laid it in his lap.

Finally Jo put down her fork and looked at the table before her. There weren't any of the starters left, and she realised that her heart had stopped beating out of her chest. "Well, I guess that was a success, y'know I sure liked bein' able to have a little bit of lots of different things. I think I will do that again… That is if you would like me to." She finished shyly, realising that she was anticipating his moves, and knowing that he would probably dislike it.

"It was, and yes, you can do that again for me." He smiled at her and began to collect up the plates.

"Oh, no, you don't, cowboy! Tonight I'm the cook, remember?" She put her hand over his to stop him from picking up another dish.

"I won't step into your kitchen, I'm just helping out here. I'll load them onto the trolley, and then, ma'am, you're on your own!" He smiled, tonight was very important to her and he didn't want to tread on her toes.

"The main course will take me about ten minutes. I hope that's ok, but it's not somethin' you can cook beforehand." She looked over at him feeling her anxiety rise again; perhaps he wouldn't want to wait.

"Jo, stop worrying. I'm fine, honey, just relax. I'll still be sitting here when you come back, in fact with that trolley I'll have a few seconds warning when you're coming!" His light tone seemed to reassure her and she retired to her kitchen. Soon he could hear the sounds of a meal being prepared, and her light humming coming softly through the air. _Much better voice than Rae – thank God!_ He pushed the irreverent thought from his mind, as he realised just how much he would give to hear his tone-deaf partner sing right now, then he leant back in his chair and enjoyed the sounds, and now the smells, coming from the other room. A short while later the clanking sound pulled him back to reality and he stood once again as she entered.

Jo smiled at him and put a plate in front of him with a steak, French fries and salad on it, and then she put the same size meal down for herself.

"Good grief, Jo, I won't have to eat again for a week, look at the size of this thing!" Steve looked at the large steak that covered most of his plate.

"Honey, where I come from that is a meal for a six year old!" Her eyes glinted mischievously and he knew that she was joking.

As they ate they talked about all sorts of things. Steve was careful to keep the conversation away from the case, and Jo, realising that he didn't want to talk about it, did the same. Soon both plates had been cleared.

"There you go, I told you that was a child's-sized meal. An' as you have been a good boy an' eaten all your dinner, you can have dessert, too."

"Jo, I can't eat another thing. Maybe we could save dessert for later?" He looked over at her hoping that she would be okay with his suggestion.

"Sure, let's go an' sit in the other room. I can load the dishwasher later." She stood up, took Steve by the hand and led him into the lounge.

Once again it was a neat and tidy, but lived-in room. The sofa was almost the same colour as Jo's dress, and the furniture was of the same time period as the buffet and table. "You know, I like your house, it's warm and welcoming, just like you."

"Oh, Steve, thank you. There are a lot of memories boxed up inside these four walls." They sat together on the sofa, and Jo rested her head on his chest. For a while they didn't say anything. Then slowly Jo straightened back up and looked up into his eyes.

She put her arms around the back of his neck and began to kiss him.

Steve had been caught completely off guard, and for an instant didn't respond as he felt her tongue in his mouth and her fingers running through his hair. Soon Jo moved back and began to loosen his tie and undo the buttons on his shirt. Steve was suddenly scared; his feelings were running away with him, he had to stop. He moved away from her. "Jo, no, honey, don't." 

Jo backed off from him as if she had been struck. 

"I have to go, I'm sorry, Jo." He got up off the sofa and without another word he walked away and left the house. He got into his car and without really thinking where he would go, started the engine and drove. Ten minutes later he was standing outside Rae's door. He had no recollection of getting there, but he knew that she and Jo were firm friends, and Rae knew that he was having dinner with Jo, because they had both told her. But it was more than that, even with all that had happened to her, she was still one of his closest friends, and he just had to talk to her.


	8. Chapter 8 Learning To Fly Again

Learning To Fly Again

****

Rae was having her first evening on her own. Jesse was just next-door, but she had begged him to let her be left by herself. Michael Ball was on the cd player, she had just got out of the shower, and was having an evening with music, a magazine and, as a treat, a bar of chocolate. _I like chocolate. Texas likes chocolate, maybe more than anybody else._ She heard the doorbell, and her heart sank. She looked through the peephole on her door. 

"Steve…? Why are… you here?" She slowly opened the door and looked at her partner; he looked terrible. As he walked over towards her sofa she spoke again. "Steve…  is Texas… here?"

"Rae, I just need to talk, I walked out on her, and I don't know why." _You're lying, Sloan, you do know why, you just can't admit it. _"Honey, I know it takes you time to put your thoughts into words, but can you listen to me and then help me at the end?"

Rae just nodded at him as she turned the music off and he started to talk.

"It was a great evening. She had gone to so much trouble, the food was delicious," he paused, "And so was she. She looked stunning." He stopped talking as he heard the phone ring. Why did Jo make him so nervous? He felt like a bird just learning to fly.  The answer phone cut in, but whoever it was didn't want to leave a message and the room fell silent.

"She tried …hard for you… Steve…What hap…pened?"

"I guess she missed one detail. She didn't know that her date would get cold feet." Steve stood up and started to pace. He couldn't keep still. "God, I feel like a sixteen year old. She began to kiss me… to …" He stopped. He trusted Rae, and he didn't mind sharing this with her, but he wasn't sure if she felt the same since her accident. He was instantly guilty for thinking it, she was the same person, and his dad had said that she could cope with almost all everyday things now.

"Steve... I won't… tell …anybody" Rae smiled at him, waited until he walked past her, reached out and put her hand over his. "Talk to me… pa…partner…we'll sort it."

Steve took a breath and sat back down. "I knew what she wanted, Rae, and I wanted the same thing. But when she started to kiss me, I panicked. I wanted her so much, right there and then, but I knew it would be wrong. It was going to be our first time, it should have been slow and beautiful, relaxed just like the evening had been. I just wanted to pick her up carry her into the other room and … well you know the rest." Suddenly he was embarrassed. He couldn't tell Rae everything; it wasn't right. He wouldn't do that to her, or Jo.

"Go back to her… Steve, tell her…. She needs that... If she's…cross, well… it will be… sad … She is a very… con…confident lady, but… if you don't go back now…she will… never know… what she did… that was wrong." Slowly her words came out and Rae hoped she had said them right.

"She wasn't wrong, Rae, I was." Steve looked at her, maybe she didn't understand after all; maybe he had been wrong to burden her with this.

"I know … Steve… but she … doesn't... she knows … you left… She won't be blam…blaming you… she will be sitting… crying… about … what **she…** did wrong… It isn't fair… Steve… not on her… or you."

Steve looked across at his partner. "Hey, you know what, you're cleverer than you look! And your speech is getting way better." Rae smiled at him.

"I know." She was still blunt but he liked her that way.

"You're right, and I'm going back, right now." He stood up and walked over to the door. Then he turned. "Thank you, Rae. I'll come visit with you tomorrow. The Chief has given me some time off, maybe we could go out, just you and me." 

Rae smiled. "Yes…Steve…thank you."

"For what?"

"For treating…me like…me." 

Steve walked back across the room, Rae stood up and he hugged her. They held each other tight for a long while and then he kissed her on the cheek and let go of her.

"Take care, Rae."

"I will…you…too."

With that he opened the door and was gone.  Rae leant back against the sofa with a smile. She felt bad for Steve, but he had come to her, asked her for help, and despite her handicaps she had helped him, she felt like she could fly as high as anybody right now.

As Steve walked back towards his car his heart was considerably lighter. It didn't take him long to get back to Jo's house and soon he was standing once again at her front door. He rang the bell and waited.

Jo had been devastated when he had left her. She had got up and automatically loaded the dishwasher, and then she had sat trying to work out what she had done that had been so wrong. She phoned Rae, but only got her machine. What she needed to say couldn't be left on a tape, so she hung up and sat silently, her brain whirring as she relived the evening over and over again. Jo had no idea how long she had been sitting there when she heard her doorbell. Getting up she wiped the tears from her face and headed for the door.

"Steve! Oh, honey, I'm so sorry, I don't know what I did or said, but I'm so sorry!" The words almost fell over themselves as they poured from her. Steve leant over and gently placed a finger against her lips.

"Shhh, it's, ok, it's not your fault. Let me come back in and I'll try to explain to you." Steve was extremely relieved when Jo moved back from the door, and he was able to come in and close it behind him. He leant over and kissed her gently on the lips and then together they walked across the hallway and over to one of the large chairs that went with the sofa. Steve sat down and to his delight Jo sat on his lap.

"What did I do, Steve? Why did you leave?" Jo was so hurt and confused, she didn't really know where to start, but she had to know.

"Jo, shhh. This isn't your fault, any of it, but you're taking charge, honey, and I have to speak." He looked at her, and she blushed. _God, I love it when she does that._ "I owe you an explanation…" He raised his finger once more as he saw her about to speak. "When you started to kiss me and then undo my shirt, I wanted you so much that it scared me. I didn't want it to be that way, Jo. It should have been slow and gentle, but I could have just picked you up and … and had you right there. You deserve better… I'm sorry, Jo. I'll go now, I hope that you'll forgive me, and that we can go out again." Steve started gently to ease her off his lap, but she turned and held on to the wings of the chair.

"Oh, no, Sloan, you don't get away that easy." Part of her wanted to let him go, so that he could get a hold of himself properly and they could try again, but the dominant part of her won out. "I worked like a slave today to get this right for you. How do you know that if you had done what you wanted, that it wouldn't have been what I wanted, too? Or if it wasn't, that I wouldn't have stopped you? I'm a grown woman, Steve, not some shrinkin' violet. I'm not a virgin, an' lookin' like you do, I'm damn sure you aren't either." With that Jo got up and moved off him. "If you want to go, go. I've had my say, I won't stop you." She moved away from him but felt his hand go around her wrist.

"Jo, stop it. Do you want me to go?" He saw her shake her head. "Good, because I don't want to go either." He stood up and pulled her to him and kissed her, hard. 

She felt the zipper at the back of her dress as he slowly moved it down, and then his big, but gentle hands on her shoulders as he slid the dress off her body. 

"I've wanted to do this bit all night." He reached up and finally was able to let her hair fall around her shoulders.

She moved away from him. "If I undo your shirt, will you still be here when I've finished?" She smiled at him.

"Oh, God, yes, Jo, I can't stop again, I want you so badly." He moaned as he felt her fingers move down and the buttons of his shirt come undone. When he felt her hands run gently down his chest and end up on his belt he thought that his knees would give way under him. He put his arms around her and picked her up, before she could continue. As he kissed her again a thought struck him. "Jo, where's the bedroom?" 

"Straight up the stairs, partner. Turn right, an' then just keep a-walkin'; you'll be fine." As soon as they were inside the room Jo felt herself being lowered to the floor, then with a speed that surprised her she felt herself pushed back up against the wall and Steve began to kiss her with a passion that took her breath way.  She moved her hands and removed his shirt, then she went back to his belt and took his pants, shorts and socks off. She could feel his hardness against her. Slowly she pushed her palms against his shoulders and moved him away from her. "Steve, the bed is a lot more comfortable than this ol' wall."

"Jo, I'm sorry," Steve picked her up again and lay her gently on the bed. He reached down and undid the front clasp on her bra and she gasped as he released her breasts and placed a kiss on each of them.

Steve saw her shiver as she felt his fingers in the sides of her panties, and she raised her body to help him remove them. She turned towards him and he lowered himself onto the bed and they began to kiss again. As she arched her back he ran his fingers gently over her breasts, and then she turned to goo as he began to kiss and nip them again. Jo was surprised at the gentleness that he showed her. She was no fool, she knew how much he wanted her, but he was being slow and loving. She moved her hand down, and slowly ran her fingers up and down his hard rod.

"Oh, God, Jo, I can't wait any longer, I want you now." His heart turned somersaults as he saw her look at him and open her body up to him. Slowly he entered her, he was a big man, but she took him in completely and soon they were moving in time together.

"Steve, don't hold back, I need you, too." She felt his movements grow stronger, and suddenly saw him stiffen for a moment, and then felt him pour into her. 

"Jo, Jo, Oh, honey, Ooooooh." He felt her body tighten around him as she came at the same time as him and for a moment they took flight together. "Oh, God, Jo." He collapsed down onto her, using his arms to protect her from his complete weight. 

Jo wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down towards her. She felt the heat from his body as he lay over her. 

"Honey, I'm heavier than you, I'll crush you"

"Shhh, I want to feel you, like this, just for a minute, I'll move when I need too." With that she traced her fingers up his back and through his hair, then she began to kiss him. As she felt his weight begin to overwhelm her she slowly rolled until she was lying on top of him.

He had nothing left now to talk. He kissed the top of her head and then watched her as she collected herself. Jo moved until she was lying with her head on his chest.

"Steve, honey? That was wonderful, thank you." She moved slightly and kissed him on the lips. There was no response and she looked up. He was fast asleep. She gave a small chuckle, and then making herself comfortable where she was, closed her eyes and let her mind wander back over the last half hour or so. Soon, without realising it, she had joined him in dreamland.

Steve slowly awoke, and looked down at Jo, she was fast asleep in his arms. He took a deep contented breath and then ran his fingers down her face. Jo moved slightly in her sleep and snuggled up to him. Then slowly she opened her eyes and looked up. "Hi, what are you doin' here?"

"Waiting for you to wake up." Steve smiled at her and placed his lips on hers. Gradually he moved his hands over her back and up into her hair. It was messed up from sleep, but it still felt beautifully soft on his fingers. "Mm, Jo, I love your hair."

"Thank you, kind sir, but don't you have to be gettin' ready for work, it's after nine already?"

"Nope, the Chief gave me five days off. I have four of them left. I promised to take Rae out today, but the rest of the time is ours, unless you have other things you would rather do."

"Three days, honey, I'm yours." She began to kiss him, and Steve put all his plans to the back of his mind, and he ran his fingers over her breasts and felt her respond to him once again.

It was just after ten when they walked down the stairs together and in to the dining room. Steve just stared. The table was laid, and there was coffee already brewed in the pot on the side. "When did you do this? I was only in the shower for a few minutes."

"Honey, I didn't do it. I told you I gave the butler the night off, well this mornin' he's back."

"Are you ready for your breakfast now, madam?" A deep, English voice spoke behind them and Steve nearly jumped out of his skin. With a very shocked expression on his face he turned round. There was a middle-aged man, dressed in a black suit waiting by the door.

"Good mornin' Michael, yes, we're ready, thank you." Jo with a huge grin moved forward and then stopped. Steve hadn't moved a muscle. "Steve, come on, darlin' or everythin' will get cold."

"What, oh, yeah, I'm coming." Steve walked in a daze up to the table, and sat down. He didn't even think to hold Jo's chair out for her, but Michael did it for her anyway.

"What would you like this morning, Miss Walters?"

"Just cereal an' some toast, thank you, Michael. I hope I left your kitchen tidy for you last night." Jo smiled at him.

"It was just fine, madam, thank you. And for you, Sir?"

Steve had automatically picked up the glass of orange juice that was in front of him and was drinking from it. "What? Oh, oh, I'll have the same, thank you." He was shell-shocked.

"Steve, honey, are you all right?"

"Yeah, it's just that… Jo, I thought you were joking when you said that you had given the butler the night off."

"Honey, why would I joke about that? She had a puzzled look on her face. "Michael was my grandmamma's butler, an' when she died he looked after the house 'til I moved out here. I couldn't just fire him now could I?"

"No, I guess not." He didn't know if he should ask the next question but before he knew it he had just blurted it out. "How can you afford to pay him?" Steve realised that he was being rude, but he couldn't take the words back. He would just have to wait and see how she reacted. To his relief she began to laugh.

"My grandmamma is still payin' him. She left enough money 'specially for him. He could leave, but I guess he likes it here." She looked at him with a smile. "Want me to ask him?"

"God, no, Jo. I just never expected this that's all." He knew it was a lame finish and he wished he had never started this conversation.

"Steve, you employ people at your restaurant for cookin' an' servin' the food, well this is no different."

"Oh, trust me, Jo, this is different."

Michael came quietly back into the room, which ended their conversation. He put down the cereal and the milk and left without a word. Jo picked up a container from the centre of the table and began to prepare her breakfast. 

"This is nice, I usually eat on my own. It makes a change to have somebody to talk to."

"What about Michael?"

"I tried, just once, apparently it isn't the done thing! He never ate with my grandmamma an' he isn't gonna eat with me either!"

"Oh …So, what do you want to talk about?" Steve looked over at her. "I'm sorry, Jo, I didn't mean to be rude, or insensitive, but I've never met anybody who has a butler before."

"Don't worry about it. I've always had one, so I guess I just don't think about it.  Where are you plannin' to take Rae today?"

Steve pulled himself back together and tried to gather his thoughts. "I wondered about taking her to the zoo in Griffith Park. She could see the animals, and there are plenty of places where she can sit and rest, or she could even go round in a wheelchair if she wanted to, although somehow I don't think she will."

"Yeah, I guess you could do that. But Steve, she isn't a child. Maybe you could take her to an art gallery, or somethin' like that. What would she have liked to do before the accident?"

"I don't know, we didn't go out just the two of us before her accident, maybe I should ask her, instead of making plans without consulting her, huh?"

"I would say so."

Michael came back in with the toast and they were silent then until they had finished their meal. As Steve put his coffee cup down he looked across at Jo. 

"You know, I could get used to this."

"What the butler?  I knew he'd grow on you." Jo smiled.

"No, sitting here, having breakfast with you." Steve watched with delight as a blush crept up her face.

They walked to the front door together, and Steve kissed her gently on the lips. But Jo wasn't happy with that. "Hey, I'm not gonna see you for the rest of the day, is that the best you can do?"

"Oh, no, I can do this too." He entwined his fingers in her hair and pulled her closer to him, she felt his tongue as it moved into her mouth and she ran her hands up into his hair too. The kiss seemed to last forever, but in the end Steve knew he needed to come up for air. "I have to go, honey, unless you want to come with me."

"No, you spend some time with her on your own, I know you are special to her, just as she is special to you, an' it will do the pair of you good. But, Steve, before you go, I've been thinkin' about what she can and can't do. Can we talk for just a minute?"

"Yeah, sure, what is it?" Steve didn't know why, but he got the feeling that he didn't want to hear what Jo was going to say. He wanted to believe that if he gave Rae a few weeks she would be back to her normal self, and by his side again as they worked together.

Jo led him into the lounge and they sat together on the wine coloured sofa. "I've been thinkin' about what she can and can't remember."

"And."

"Well, she never mentioned Kira before she saw her. She didn't know who I was when I first went in to her room at the hospital and she definitely didn't know my name. It's almost as if until she sees someone, or is told somethin' it isn't there, in her memory. Maybe you ought to talk to Jesse about it."

They walked back out to the front door and Steve started to kiss her again. As he pulled her to him he saw Michael walk across behind them towards the kitchen and moved away from her too embarrassed to say or do anything.

"Honey?" Jo looked confused.

"I'm sorry, Jo, I, I could see Michael." Steve's confusion was complete when Jo began to laugh.

"He's my butler, not my daddy. If you want to kiss me, any place in this house, you go right ahead. I don't mind, an' he won't either. Now, come here." She ran her fingers into this hair and gently moved his face down to hers and began to kiss him again. Steve still felt awkward, but slowly he started to respond and soon was kissing her passionately once again.

Steve walked down to his car and got in. He drove a little way from Jo's house and pulled up. He had so much to think about he didn't know where to start. He took his cell phone out and called Rae's number.

"Hello."

"Rae, it's me." Steve purposely didn't say who it was.

"Who's me?"

"Steve."

"Oh…we're going out…you're late."

Steve smiled. "I won't be long, I just wanted to let you know I was still coming, ok?"

"Ok." Rae put the phone down.

Steve laughed to himself, but his smile soon vanished again. He had a feeling that Jo was right, and Rae had more memory problems than they were prepared to admit to themselves, but if she recognised things then the memories would come back. He had to believe that. He drew back into the traffic and headed towards Rae and Jesse's apartment block.

Rae was waiting by the door when he got there, she watched him walk all along the hallway. "Hi…Steve."

"Hi, honey, how are you today?"

"I don't …know… Cross."

"Why are you cross? Is it because I'm late?"

"No… I'm… just cross."

"Where's Jesse?"

"Inside…I wanted … to wait…for … you."

"Come on then, let's go in."

Steve put his arm around Rae and they walked in together. Jesse was sat on the sofa trying to read the paper, but Kira had decided that she was going to play with him instead, and was moving up and down under the pages. "You are gonna be turned into soup if you don't stop that."

"Jesse…no." Rae looked horrified, and Steve could see tears spring to her eyes.

"Rae, it's a joke, he's just joking."

"Oh, for goodness sake, Rae, I'm only messing about." Jesse got up and threw the paper on the sofa. Kira meowed as she was picked up and dumped on the floor. Then he headed for the kitchen.

"Jesse… you're…horrid." Rae bent down and picked Kira up. She went slowly towards her bedroom and before she shut the door she turned back to Steve. "I don't … want to…go out… today."

"Jess, was that really necessary?" Steve looked at his friend. He was shocked by his outburst.

"I'm sorry, Steve, I'm just getting frustrated. I know I shouldn't. I'll go and apologise."

Jesse tapped on the door to the bedroom, and waited. He could hear Rae talking to Kira and he opened the door a little bit.

"Rae, sweetie, can I come in?"

She looked at him and nodded. "I'm … sorry…I make…you…mad."

"Oh, Rae, honey, you don't make me mad, I just…" he stopped; he wasn't sure how to explain it.

"Feel…sorry… for me?" Rae looked him straight in the eye.

"Yeah, maybe, but only because I know you want to be able to do so much more than you can, right now."

"I know…it… will come… Maybe… you need…to know…that…too." She smiled at him and then she put her hand into his and pulled him onto the bed next to her, and for the first time since her accident she began to kiss him properly. He felt her begin to explore with her tongue and he began to respond. Rae's fingers went into his hair and she closed her eyes.

After a short while Jesse pulled gently away from her. "Rae, honey, I love you, so much."

"I know…I love … you too… I will…stay …here for…a bit."

Jesse smiled at her, and kissed her once more, this time on the cheek, then he stood up and went back into the other room.

Steve looked at Jesse as he came back through the door alone. "Will she be all right in there, only I want to talk to you about her, Jess."

"Yeah, she likes to be in there, and we made up. What is it?"

Steve told Jesse what Jo had said to him that morning. His face got graver the more he heard. "You know I don't like to admit it, but I think you could be right. She's gonna start speech therapy next week, maybe that will help, and maybe we should start talking about things that happened in the past. So that she can start working on her memory.

"Why did she shut herself away, Jesse?"

"Because she couldn't understand my joke, she couldn't cope with that so she did the equivalent of running away."

"Oh. Look I want to go and see Dad, and tell him what I've told you. If I ring Jo, will you come with me?"

"Yeah, ok."

Jo arrived at Rae's apartment just over half an hour later. She had just been leaving the house when Steve had called, and had changed out of her riding gear and headed straight over. She rang the bell, and Steve answered the door.

"Hello, stranger." Jo put her arms around his neck and kissed him tenderly on the lips. 

Steve felt as if he was going to float away. "Mm, hello to you too. I'm sorry to break into your day, but I want to go talk to Dad, and we can't leave Rae on her own."

"Honey, it was me who put this into your head, we'll be fine today, I'll probably take her to the beach and we can walk along the sand. Where is she?"

"In her room, she was sulking because Jesse shouted at her, they made up, but she wanted to stay there."

"Oh, ok, I can deal with that. But I'll speak to her before you leave.

Jo went over to the door and knocked. She didn't wait for Rae to speak she just went in. "Hi, Rae, it's me." Rae turned to her.

"Hi, Texas." She smiled. "Steve… is out there."

"I know, I came to see you. Listen, honey, Steve an' Jesse have to go see Mark, so you an' I can go out, is that all right?"

"Yes." Rae got up and walked over to her.  "Where…? Shopping?"

"Do you want to go shoppin'? We can do that." Jo smiled at her. She had made a decision, by herself.

They walked together out into the other room. "Ah, guys, change of plan, we are goin' shoppin'."

Steve picked up on the significance of what Jo was saying, "She decided by herself?"

"Yep, completely by herself."

Jo and Rae walked round the shops together. Rae had been worried by the amount of people around her when they had got out of the car, but by the time they had slowly walked to the first level of shops she had begun to feel more confident. But after a while she had become upset that she couldn't do things like she used to, so they had stopped at a coffee shop and Jo had talked to her, and asked her what was different. It had taken a while, but Rae had finally said that she wanted to buy things without taking so long to ask and that she couldn't walk very fast. They had decided that they would walk leisurely together, down the edges of the walkways, then they wouldn't get in other people's way and that Jo would help Rae in the stores if she needed it. So far it appeared to be working.

They had bought a new top each, and then Rae had seen a candy store that didn't have any people in it. She put her hand on Jo's arm. "Stay here."

"What? Rae!" Jo watched as she walked slowly away from her. She saw her go into the store right in front of her and she hoped she would be all right alone.

Rae walked up to the counter. She smiled and waited, thinking all the while. There was a young man putting some chocolate bars onto a stand. He turned and moved towards her.

"Hi, can I help you?"

"Yes… I want …" Rae pointed to some boxes on a display. "I talk…slow."

The young man smiled. That's ok. Do you want this size?"

Rae looked at the box in front of her.  "Yes …please… It's a … present."

"Ok, I'll make it look pretty. Just like you." 

Rae beamed and got her money out while she waited. The box of candy was wrapped in shiny paper and then a twirly ribbon was put on it. The assistant walked back over with it and showed Rae.

"It's … lovely… Thank you." Rae handed over her money and waited for her change. Then she picked up the bag with her purchase in and with a wide smile turned and walked back to Jo. 

"These … are for you."

"You know you didn't have to do that, but thank you. It seemed to me you did all right in there."

Rae was still smiling, she turned back to look at the man in the store and then back to Jo. "I did… he was nice."

They got into the elevator and got out on the third floor of the mall and began to look in the shops again.

Suddenly Rae stopped walking.

"What is it, Rae, are you all right, honey?"

She pointed at a shop halfway down the hallway. "Hair…My hair… not cut."

"No, you don't have to have your hair cut, we are only here to look."

"No, NO!" Rae shouted at her friend, and a couple walking past them stared at her. Jo put her hand on her arm.

"Shhh, honey, it's all right."

Rae tried again. "My hair…not cut…before." Rae was quiet for a while then a pained look crossed her face. "He… hurt…Jesse…I want … to go…now."

"Ok, we'll go an' find the guys."

They walked slowly back to Jo's car and as Rae sat quietly in the front. Jo got her phone out and called Steve. He was still at the hospital and so they drove over to meet them there.

Jo checked her mirror as they drew out of the parking lot. She saw a green Mercedes waiting behind her and it followed her out. Rae seemed quite agitated on the drive over to Community General, and Jo tried to get her to talk.

"Rae, what's wrong? Why are you upset?"

"He…hurt…Jesse." 

"When was Jesse hurt, Rae, before you were hurt?" Rae just shook her head, and Jo knew that she wasn't going to say any more.

They drew up into the parking lot, and Jo went to help her out of the car. "I … can do it… myself." Rae glared at her and pulled herself out of the seat.

"Sorry. I'll leave you be." Jo watched as she straightened up and they walked together into the hospital.


	9. Chapter 9 A Creature of Habit

A Creature of Habit 

Steve and Jesse were waiting for them when they came out of the elevator, and Rae went straight to Jesse and put her hands on his ribs. "He…hurt…you."

"Rae?" Jesse looked at her and then at Jo.

"She got real agitated while we were shoppin'. We saw a hairdressers and then Rae said somethin' about not havin' her hair cut, an' then that he hurt you, Jesse."

Steve suddenly realised what she was talking about. "Jo, what was the name of the hairdressers?"

"Dawns." It wasn't Jo who spoke but Rae. "He…hurt… you too." Rae lifted her hand and touched Steve's face, and he was suddenly very moved.

"Oh, Rae, honey, I think you are getting some of your memory back. We need to find somewhere quiet where we can talk. Jesse, can you go and get Dad?"

They all met up about five minutes later in the doctor's lounge. Rae smiled as she walked in. "I… like …this room." She walked slowly over towards the sofa and sat down. Mark and Amanda came in, with a woman that none of them recognised, except Jesse. Rae looked over at them. "Mark… Amanda…hello." She stared straight at the woman and then looked away again.

"Rae, this is Theresa Milligan, she is going to help you with your speech, and with your memory, because when you talk she wants you to tell her lots of things about yourself."

"No!" Rae spat out just the one word and then she turned away from all her friends.

"Rae!" Jesse was horrified. "Honey, you need to have help so that you can speak a little quicker, and you can't go back to work until you have you memory back."

Steve glared at him. After what Jo had told him that morning he didn't know if Rae would ever be able to go back to work, not as a homicide cop.

Rae looked down. "Sorry."

Theresa walked over to her and crouched down in front of her. "That's ok. I know you must be really muddled up right now, but I can help you to get unmuddled."

"I… don't want … to stay… here." 

"No, you don't have to, you can come in to see me, and I would like to come and see you at your house, would that be ok?"

"Yes."

"No, Rae, no more one word answers. Say 'yes, Theresa'."

Rae looked up again. "Yes, Teesa… Teesssa."

"I know it's a hard name, we'll try it again later. So, Rae, can you tell me who your friends are?"

Rae took a deep breath and looked over at Mark. "That's…Mark…Steve…" Then she smiled. "He's his … dad…" She ran her fingers through her hair. "That's Texas…Amanda…and Jesse." Rae looked up. "That's … Alex."

The door opened, and Alex came in. "Sorry, I'm late, guys."

Theresa Mulligan looked around at the faces in front of her.

"Ok, I get the feeling that I am in the middle of a very close knit family group here, even though only two of you are related. I will do all I can to help Rae, but you will have to help too. So, no more one word answers, ok? Rae, you just proved you could say a whole lot more than that if you try. This week two words at least, but three will be better. And we will increase it on from there. She will need help with her memory, games, personal items, stuff that will help her to think, that sort of thing."

Steve looked over at the speech therapist. "Rae has had a very traumatic time since she arrived here, maybe it would be better if she didn't remember."

"No, it will come back to her, maybe as memories, maybe as flashbacks, but if it is as traumatic as you say then she will need to be with someone all the time, because the smallest thing could trigger a memory."

"Like the hairdressers we saw when we were out shoppin' today?" Jo spoke up, realising for the first time why Rae had been angry with her. She had been frightened.

"What happened when you saw the hairdressers, Rae?" Theresa took a notebook out of her bag and put in on the table in front of her.

"My hair…not cut."

"That's right. Rae had some problems, and her hair appointment was cancelled by mistake." Steve was speaking with care. "I think we need to tell you everything that has happened, so that you can understand what she will be going through when she remembers."

"Ok, I guess everybody else knows what happened?"

"No, Jo doesn't." Steve saw Theresa look a little puzzled. "Rae calls Jo Texas, I'll explain that in a minute too. Jesse do you want to take Rae home, and we'll come over in a little while."

"Sure, we could get some dinner on, what do you say, honey?"

"Yes."

"Rae, remember what I said."

Rae smiled slightly. "Yes… get dinner." Then to the delight of everyone except Jo and Theresa, who didn't understand, she stuck her tongue out.

By the time Steve had told Jo and Theresa what had happened to Rae since she had arrived in Los Angeles it was mid afternoon and Mark, Alex and Amanda had finished their shifts, and as Theresa was actually working with her client, they all headed over to Rae's apartment.

Rae was trying to peel some potatoes. "Hard."

"Pardon?" Jesse had been making her talk all afternoon, and he felt rotten about it.

"This… is hard."

Jesse looked at her. "Rae, honey, try using the other hand."

"But… you use this… one."

"Yeah, I know, but you don't. Try the other one."

Rae swapped the peeler into her left hand and tried again. The peeler slowly took the skin off the potato and she smiled. She put the two things down and moved over to him. "Thank you." She kissed him on the cheek. "Jesse…you… don't hurt now?"

"No, honey, it was a little while ago, I'm better now."

"Good…" she smiled. "I'm … glad… three … words!"

There was a knock on the door just as Jesse was about to reply and he moved over to the door. He opened it, and suddenly the room was full of people. Steve and Jo moved over towards the sofa and then Mark, Alex, Amanda and Theresa came in too.

Rae didn't take any notice of them, but carried on with what she was doing. Theresa walked over to where she was and stood quietly watching her. When Rae had finished three potatoes, she turned round and smiled at the woman behind her.

"Hello…Thesa."

"Hello, Rae, what is Rae short for, do you know?"

Rae looked at her. Everybody else turned round. Jesse had to sit down so that he didn't run over and tell her himself.

Rae began to think, hard. Slowly a memory came into her mind. She could see a man sitting at a desk he called her… "Reagan…it's short … for Reagan."

The whole room seemed to relax and after that Theresa didn't press her. Between the eight of them the meal was soon prepared and ready to be switched on at five.

Theresa opened the bag she had brought with her. "Now, I can't be here all the time, and you can't be with me all the time, so you need to do some homework, ok?"

Rae nodded. Theresa didn't push her to speak; she knew she was concentrating on what she was saying. She took a pack of playing cards out of her bag. "These are snap cards, you know what they are don't you?"

"Yes." 

Theresa raised an eyebrow. 

"Yes, I do." 

"That was very good, there was hardly any pause in those words. Well done. I want you to play snap with these cards, at least once a day, but as often as you want to. And I want you to write down how many times you do play it each day. If you have nobody to play with you can use them to play pairs, you can play that too, can't you?"

"Yes…Teesa."

"We will be doing lots of other things, but this is just for when we can't see each other, ok?" Theresa saw her nod and she smiled at her.

"Rae, honey, look at me now, and listen, ok?" Rae looked at Mark and nodded again. "I need you to fill in some sheets for me too. You have to go and see another person at the hospital tomorrow, and these sheets are for him. But so you don't have too many people to see you can do all this part through me, after you have seen him once, is that all right?"

"Yes, thank … you … Mark." Rae put her hand over her mouth and tried to cover up a yawn.

"Honey, why don't we go and lay down in the other room for a little while, I'm sure that the others will put the dinner on, as we helped make it, right guys?" Jesse looked at all his friends.

"Yep, that's not a problem." Jo smiled at Rae as she stood up and took Jesse's hand. As they went into the bedroom, Jesse turned.

"Thank you, all of you. I don't think I could do all this on my own."

"You won't have to Jesse, you know that." It was Amanda who spoke and smiled at her two friends.

Over just the next few days it became apparent just how close to the surface Rae's memories were. Each time something was mentioned she began to remember things that had happened. Unfortunately it also meant that she got upset a lot, and so they had to only have short sessions at it. 

It was after one particularly upsetting meeting when she had been talking about how Leticia Howard had tried to kill her that they began to realise how hard it was on her. She had gone into her room to lie down and Jesse and Mark were getting the lunch together. After about ten minutes they heard Rae begin to moan. 

Jesse was in the bedroom in a flash. "Rae, honey, what is it?"

She was rocking back and forth on the bed. "My head…Jesse…help…me." She had her hands over the top of her head and there were tears in her eyes.

"Where is your medication, Rae?"

"I…finished it…It hurts…Jess."

"Rae, you were supposed to tell somebody, before you ran out. I'll go and get a prescription filled for you. Mark will stay with you, ok?"

"I didn't … know I could … have more…Sorry." Rae had tears running down her face and Jesse had to look away so that he could leave her. 

"Mark, she has a real bad headache, I'm gonna go and get her some more medication, can you stay with her?"

"Of course."

By the time Jesse got back Rae was lying with her head on Mark's lap and he was stroking her hair back and singing gently to her. Jesse could tell that she was still in pain, but she had calmed down. He gave her the tablets she needed, and fifteen minutes later she fell into a peaceful sleep.

Over the next few weeks' life gradually fell into some sort of routine. Steve and Jo went away for a long weekend to a cabin in the hills, and Jesse, Mark and Alex took it in turns to stay with Rae, she also spent some time each week with Amanda and her boys. They tried to take her out to places where there were plenty of people so that she could get used to interacting again, and they encouraged her to read and fill in her questionnaire every day.

Amanda was working in her path lab one Monday morning when her phone rang. "Doctor Bentley…yes, of course, can you tell me what happened…? No, I'll be right there." Amanda slipped out of her white coat and headed for the door. She bumped into Mark on the way out. "Mark, I'm sorry, I have to go, Dion has been fighting at school and I have to go see the principal."

"Honey, I'm sorry, let me know if you need any help."

"I will, see you later." Amanda drove to her son's school wondering what on earth could have made Dion fight another child. She didn't have long to wait to find out. She was ushered straight into the principal's office, and standing just inside the door was Dion, who she could see was trying very hard, now, to keep his anger under control, and another boy, who seemed to have been rolled in mud.

"Doctor Bentley, I am sorry to call you away from your work, but I will not have fighting in my school." The Principal wasted no time getting down to business.

"It's not something I condone either Mr. Williams, do you know why they were fighting?" Amanda purposely didn't look in Dion's direction.

"Maybe these young men had better explain."

Dion stood up slightly taller and keeping his eyes on his mom the whole time began to speak. "He saw us yesterday and he was rude."

"You have to explain yourself better than that, young man, or your mother won't understand."

"He saw us when we took Rae to the beach and this morning he said people like her shouldn't be allowed out." Dion glared at the young boy beside him and looked ready to hit him again.

Amanda felt as if her heart would burst. Dion had leapt to the defence of his friend, and she knew she wouldn't be able to punish him for that. She turned to the Principal.

"Dion's friend Rae was with us at the weekend, she has speech problems, due to an accident she sustained in the line of duty." Amanda turned to the young boy next to Dion and was angered to notice that he wouldn't look her in the eye. "She is a cop, maybe you should have taken the time to come over and meet her instead of making fun of her."

Amanda turned to Mr. Williams. "I realise that you have to punish both boys for fighting at school, but I won't be punishing Dion any further."

Mr. Williams looked at the two young boys in front of him. "I think maybe he has been punished enough, Doctor Bentley. Dion you may return to class. But no more fighting in school, for whatever reason, or you will be in trouble. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sir." Dion hurriedly left the room and Amanda shook hands with Mr. Williams. 

"Thank you, Sir. I will be going now too." 

As Amanda drove back towards Community General she smiled and hummed to herself. Rae was lucky to have the group of friends that she did. She was glad that Rae hadn't known how that young boy had felt about her, but she had a feeling that if he had made his feelings plain on the Sunday he would have been covered in sand instead of mud.

In this way the lives of everyone continued. Rae seemed to reach a plateau and hadn't made very much progress for over a month. It was now four months since she had been injured. Jesse had moved back into his own apartment, but everybody was still working very hard with her.  Steve and Jo had become an inseparable couple. Steve couldn't remember ever having been so happy. He had got used to working with Martin, but he still missed Rae. 

Her memory had returned from the time when she began working with Steve, up to about the time of her experiences with Phil Levington began, and she could remember some things that had happened after it, but she had made no more mention of Jesse or Steve being hurt, and when they had tried to jog her memory about the things that had happened to her she hadn't been able to respond.

They had spoken to Brian Dobson, and he had said that it was maybe too traumatic for her, and she was consciously shutting it out, almost using her accident as a way of not remembering. But he also said that it would probably come back to her and they should be prepared for her to be very upset when it did. Jesse was also worried that she couldn't remember that he had proposed to her, and she had walked out on him. He was frightened that when she did remember she would do the same again. 

They had been keeping Rae's family in London apprised of her situation, but they had dissuaded them from coming over, because they felt that it would be counter productive. When Rae had seen a photo of them she hadn't known who they were, or that she had ever worked anywhere but Los Angeles and when Steve and Jesse had tried to explain it to her she had got very upset, but she couldn't remember that she had three children, or an ex-husband. Steve and Alex had spoken to them on the phone, but none of them felt that Rae was ready to meet up with them again yet.

Steve had taken a weekend off for him and Jo to spend together, with no work, no pressures. They had stayed at Jo's house, and had watched videos, done the garden; they had even got the shopping in together, letting Michael have the Saturday morning off. In fact they had behaved very much like a married couple.

By the time Monday came round, Steve was feeling very relaxed. He had spent the night in Jo's bed, and now he was lying there looking up at the ceiling wishing that he had the rest of the week off.

"Steve, honey, you will have to get up in a minute, you're supposed to be startin' at eight."

"I know, don't remind me. Think I could call in sick?"

Jo, her eyes glinting, smiled at him. She began to kiss him. "Maybe you could plead exhaustion." She ran her fingers through his hair, and the kiss became more fervent. 

Steve began to respond to her, and their passion rose quickly. He rolled over so that he was lying over her, and with his arms holding him slightly above her; he began to kiss her neck.

Jo felt herself begin to melt again. Every time he did that to her she was turned to jelly. "Oh, honey." Soon his mouth began to move down her body, she felt him as he began to play with her nipples, and she knew that she was lost. "Steve, honey, I need you, please."

"Well, I guess you're just gonna have to wait then." Steve gave her a wicked smile and moved away from her. He ran a finger slowly down the middle of her body and then he began to kiss her lips once again.

"Steve Sloan, I could just walk away from you, right now." But her eyes were full of passion, and slowly she felt Steve enter her and she knew that he had caught her in a lie. "Oh, God, Steve, now, baby, please."

Soon they were in rhythm together, and as they exploded as one, Jo knew that she could never walk away from this man. As Steve collapsed back on to the bed she turned to him and kissed him on the lips. "Steve, I love you."

"Oh, Jo, I love you too," He pulled her back towards him and began to kiss her with passion once again. Then he caught sight of the clock out of the corner of his eye and moved away from her. "Honey I have to go, I can't be late, not today."

They both got up from the bed and Jo headed down the hallway to the shower in the next bedroom. Steve went into the one right next to him, and they met again on the way down to breakfast. Michael was waiting as usual by the doorway to the dining room. Steve had got used to him now, and he had a favour to ask of him.

"Michael, could I introduce you to my partner, Rae Yeager? She was very badly injured about four months ago and her re-hab has been going really well, but she seems to be stuck where she is right now. She doesn't remember anything from her life in England, and that includes her family. I was wondering if maybe you would jog her memory."

"Of course, Sir. I have heard you and Miss Walters talking about her. Maybe she could come over for dinner, and I could speak with her then."

"That would be great, how about tomorrow night? She needs a little notice to do new things, but too long a wait and she gets very impatient."

"That would be fine, Sir. I could do a proper English meal for her, say Roast Beef, with all the trimmings?"

"Thank you, Michael, I'll ring her from the station and ask her." Steve looked at his watch. "I don't have time for breakfast, I'll grab something on the way." 

Michael disappeared round the doorframe. "I had a feeling that might be the case, Sir." He held out a brown bag, "Coffee and two home made doughnuts, Sir."

Steve took the bag then he gave a little bow in Michael's direction and headed for the door. Jo followed him. "See why I couldn't get rid of him, the man's a treasure. Are you comin' here tonight, honey?"

"No, I'm going to see Rae, Jesse and Alex are both working, and Amanda has parent teacher night. What about you?"

"Well I'm goin' to take her for her meetin' with Theresa and then Mark is gonna look after her until six when he will take her over to Bob's which is where you are meetin' her isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. I hope she starts to improve again soon, she is getting frustrated and angry, and to be honest so am I."

"I'll see you later, honey." They kissed each other and Steve headed off towards the precinct. 

Jo arrived to pick up Rae just over twenty minutes after Steve had left. Jo let herself into Rae's apartment and was instantly repelled by an awful smell. "Rae, honey, are you alright?" Rae came out of the bedroom, she was very tearful and she had a wet and squirming Kira in her arms. "What's the matter, shhh, come an' tell me about it."

There was a pause and then Rae began to talk, slowly and carefully. "There was a smell. Kira smells. I washed her. Texas what did I do?"

Jo looked round the apartment; she followed her nose and soon found the problem. "Oh, Rae, honey, I think it's what you didn't do." Jo walked back and taking Rae by the hand moved her over towards the part of the kitchen set aside for Kira. 

"What? I don't understand." Rae put her kitten on the floor and ran her hands through her hair. Jo could see that she was beginning to get very agitated. "Tell me, Texas."

"Sweetie, I don't think you have been lookin' after Kira like you should. You have to clean her kitty litter tray every day, an' feed her in the mornin' an' the evenin'. She needs water too. You haven't been doin' that, have you?"

Rae looked at her friend. She was trying not to cry any more. "I don't know." She turned away from Jo and headed back towards the bedroom.

Jo bit her lip so that she didn't lose her temper. She took a breath. "Rae, come here." She didn't shout, but Rae knew that she had to do as she was told. Jo almost laughed as Rae came back, her head bowed, and stood like a small child who had broken something. "We need to sit down an' talk about this, but first you need to clean this litter tray an' feed her, all right?"

"Yes, Texas." Jo stood to one side, dried Kira with a towel and watched as Rae cleaned everything up and carefully put some fresh food and water out for her pet. Then they moved together towards the sofa and sat.

"Ok, Rae, you have to listen carefully, an' if you don't understand you gotta stop me, all right?" Rae just nodded, but Jo didn't push her to speak. "You are responsible for Kira, an' if you don't look after her she will get sick. You need to make a list of what you have to do everyday for her an' do it. So, go get some paper, we'll do it together now."

Rae slowly wrote down her pet's name at the top of the paper. Then between them, they worked out what Rae should write. As they were writing, the kitten came and rubbed up at Rae's legs. Rae stopped writing and looked down. She gently picked her up and nuzzled her soft fur. "I'm sorry, baby." This time the tears did fall, and then she turned. "Maybe Kira should live with you, Texas."

"Oh, no, you can do this. She wants you not me."

Rae nodded her head and picked up the piece of paper. She got up and placed it on the refrigerator and put a magnet over it. Then she turned "Thank you, Texas, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt her…I love her."

"I know you do, but she can't tell you what she needs. You know how it feels not to be able to tell somebody what you want, she is the same. She has to leave everything to you. Now we need to get to the hospital, give her a kiss, she'll be fine until you get back." 

They were quiet in the car for about ten minutes before Rae looked at her. The car was stationary at some traffic lights and Rae held out her right hand, which she had been looking at for some time.

"How did I get these lines on my hand?"

Jo looked across. "They're scars, but I'm not sure, how you got them, why don't you ask Mark when you get to the hospital, or Jesse, I'm sure they'll know."

"Ok."

Rae didn't say anything else, and the car behind them tooted its horn as the lights changed. Jo looked in her mirror, she was sure she had seen that green Mercedes somewhere before.

Half an hour after he left Jo, Steve walked into the squad room and Martin came over to him. "Hi, Steve, how's Rae today?" He asked the same question every morning, before anything else. He had occasionally been helping with her care and she enjoyed his company.

"The same, we knew that she would have periods where she didn't seem to be improving, but well, it's just going on for so long."

"Hey, Sloan, the captain wants to see you and Martin, five minutes ago." Detective Campbell called to them as he walked over to the coffee machine.

The two detectives looked at each other and headed for Captain Newman's office. Since Rae had been injured Steve had gone back to dealing with the Captain. He wasn't sure whom he preferred, Newman or Chief Masters. 

"Ah, Sloan, Robertson, what do you remember about a night watchman called Matthew Franks?"

Steve looked at him. "That was ages ago. Rae and I worked on that. We didn't get the guy. In fact we were putting all the paperwork away when the activists case started."

Well the gun used in that murder was used last night to kill another night watchman. Same area of the docks. I want you to take the case on, and this time, I expect a result. If necessary, Robertson you can camp out on the docks for a few nights, see what you can find."

"Yes, Sir."

"Sloan how's Reagan." The Captain had never worked with Rae, and had called her Reagan from the first day Steve had begun working for him again.

"No change, Sir."

"Right, right."

Steve and Martin sat at their desks half an hour later with all the paper work in front of them that Rae had filed away almost four and a half months ago.

"Steve, does Rae remember this time, when you were working on this?" Martin looked across at his partner.

"Yeah, sort of. I haven't talked too much about it, but she remembers when I met Jo, and that was only a day or so after we filed all this stuff, why?"

"I wondered whether we could get her in here, maybe it would jog her memory, and she might be able to help us with this."

"Yeah, I can't see why not, I'll just clear it with the Captain. Then if he says it's ok, I'll phone the hospital, she's there this morning."

Ten minutes later Steve was on the phone to his dad and ten minutes after that he was on his way to the hospital to pick Rae up.

Rae was sitting in the doctor's lounge as Steve entered and she stood up. Her walking was almost back to normal, but it was her speech that was still the problem. She didn't pause so much between single words any more, but she thought about her sentences for a long time before she said them.

"Hi, Steve." 

"Hey, partner, are you ready to come with me?"

There was a long pause, before Rae began to speak. "No, I'm scared. They won't know what I'm like now. I'm… I'm not Sheree any more."

Steve smiled; it had been a very interesting conversation when Rae had found the white dress she had worn as Sheree. "Oh, honey, it will be all right. They have all missed you, but they know a little of how it has been, everybody will be fine, I promise."

"Ok."

Steve took her hand and they walked together back to the parking lot. He had to slow his walk down for her to keep up, but then he had always had to do that.

It seemed to Rae that they got to the precinct far faster than they used to, and before she knew it she was walking in through the doors. Suddenly her fear left her, and she felt excited. Bob was in his usual place behind the desk and she smiled as she saw him. Steve stopped walking and he saw Rae beginning to form her sentence in her mind. He held up his hand behind her and Bob stood and waited.

"Hi, Bob, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Rae, but I'm much better now I can see your lovely smile."

"Thank you." She didn't have to think about that, it just came out. Then she turned to Steve, he waited. Theresa had told them that the best thing was to let her work her sentences out in her head first and then say them, that way she wouldn't get muddled up. It seemed to work, but conversations with Rae still took a long time.

"Can you go first?"

"Sure." 

Rae took the stairs, slowly, but confidently and then she walked quietly into the squad room. As she came into view all the cops in the room turned and began to applaud, softly at first, so that they didn't scare her, but it got louder and louder, until the Captain and the Chief came out to see what was going on.

Rae wiped at her eyes. She looked around. "Thank you…I don't know what to say."

The Chief came over to her, and he had a proper smile on his face. "Detective, it's good to see you back where you belong."

Rae thought for a minute. "I do, don't I? I belong here."

Steve looked at her, her eyes were shining, and she seemed more alive than he had seen her for some time. _We should have done this before._

Rae turned to the chief and in a voice far too loud for Steve's liking said, "Why were you…a terr…terrif…terrifying schoolboy…?" Then to his horror she turned towards him, paused for far to short a period and then carried on talking. "Steve, what did he do at lunchtimes? I eat at lunchtime."

"Rae!" Steve was horrified. He hurriedly tried to change the subject. "Captain Newman needs to talk to you about a case, can you help him?"

"Later, Teesa says…you will help me when I remember." Rae looked at her partner and then at the Chief. "Oh… I have made you cross. Why? Is it bad to talk about food?"

Captain Newman had unexpectedly to tie his shoelace, and Steve could see that most of the detectives in the room were very busy all of a sudden.

"Yes, Lieutenant, maybe you would like to explain to Rae why we are both looking a little, cross."

Steve wanted the ground to open up. He took Rae by the hand. "If you come over here, we can talk, all right? We need to talk about work. We can talk about the rest at home, ok? Now Captain Newman needs your help." Steve could tell that Rae didn't want to let it drop, but he had managed to move her away from the Chief, who he noticed to his relief was heading back into his office.

Rae thought about what Steve had just said, there was another pause, but already they were getting used to it.  "I don't know who he is."

Steve smiled an extremely relieved smile. He had a feeling that the childlike quality that Rae now had was going to become a permanent fixture. That could be interesting in a homicide cop.

"That is me, Detective, and I'm very pleased to meet you."

"Hello." Rae paused. "I'm allowed to say just one word now."

"I know you are, honey, come on, let's get this sorted out." Steve moved her over to the desk, he didn't see the look between the Chief in his doorway and the Captain as he called her honey, but they had noted it.

"What we want you to do is try to remember what we did in the night watchman case, on the docks a while back. Because there has been another killing. Can you do that?"

Rae began to think. In her mind she could see the water, and their car parked by a big building. "He was killed in a warehouse. We didn't catch the man." 

"That's right. If we talk about it, can you join in?"

"Yes…but you will have to wait for me."

There was silence, as they did just that.

"I could put my hand up."

Martin smiled, "Just like in school, ok, we'll talk, you listen and when you have something to say put your hand up."

"Matthew Franks, 46." Steve started to talk. Martin began to take his own notes, he had been coming in late to a lot of cases since his promotion and he had found it much easier if he put things into his own words. "Was found with a single gunshot to the head in his office, at the front of the warehouse where he worked. There were no fingerprints, no footprints. He was shot where he was found, and we found nothing."

Rae put her hand up. They waited and she began to speak. "He had hair in his hand. Black hair. It was curly."

"So it was I'd forgotten that." Steve looked at her she had her hand up again.

"I hadn't finished! He was an hon… honourable man. His wife kept saying that. She said that he had said that morning I am an honourable man." Rae put her hand down. "Now I have finished."

As Steve went to speak again he saw Detective Chapman come across the room. He had a cup in his hand, Rae's cup. "Detective Yeager, I made you a drink. Nobody has used your cup or your tea bags, we've been waiting for you to come back."

Rae didn't look at the cup straight away, she was staring at Chapman. She smiled. "Detective Yeager. That's me." Then she put her hand out and took her tea. "Thank you."

Steve looked at her and realised what the problem had been. Her injury had robbed her of her identity. By bringing her into the squad room, he had, quite unwittingly, given it back to her. 

"Ok, Detective, what else can you remember?"

Rae was watching Detective Chapman as he walked back across the room, and Steve had to repeat the question.

"Detective, what else do you remember?"

"Sorry." Rae began to think again. Then she pulled a pad across the desk and began to write on it. Steve watched her, as she began to work like she used to. He was so glad that he had brought her in. She was a creature of habit, he realised, and getting back to the old routine seemed to be just what she needed to continue her improvement.  Her writing was still untidy, but that was probably because she had only been writing down how many games of snap she played each day. Slowly the page began to fill up with words. When she was half way down the page she looked up.

"I want to see the notes for the second murder."

"Ok, hold on a minute. I think the Captain still has them." Steve stood up, but Rae did too. Then she put her hand up.

"I will go, then I can meet him properly." Rae didn't wait for a reply she walked across the room and knocked on the door. She heard a voice and went in. 

Captain Newman looked up. "Yes, Detective Yeager, what can I do for you?" He waited, but was surprised when Rae answered straight away.

"I need the file on last night's murder." She smiled. "I worked out my words on the way here."

"Here you go then. Are you feeling all right? Because I can get someone to run you home any time you like."

Rae smiled again, and he knew the answer before she spoke. "No, I like it here, I want to stay."

Rae left the room but instead of heading back to her room she went over to the table where the coffee and tea things were.

Steve had been working quietly for about ten minutes when he realised that Rae hadn't come back yet. He looked up and saw that the Captain was sat on his own in his office. Slowly a very unpleasant thought came into his mind and he moved down towards the Chief's door. He thought his heart would stop as he looked in through the glass. Rae was standing just inside the door with a cup of coffee and a plate of biscuits. He knocked and waited, part of him hoped he wouldn't be asked in.

"Come."

Steve slowly went into the room. "Rae, what are you doing?"  He watched as she moved further into the room and placed her offerings on the Chief's desk.

"Thank you, Detective." Chief Masters looked a little puzzled.

"I remembered, you said that you had never seen the Chief eat…you told me at a party…I thought that was sad, so I got him some biscuits."

"Well, that is real nice, but I think it's time to go back to work, now."

"But you said you had never seen him eat, if we go now you still won't."

"Honey, let's talk about this later, now is not the time, ok?"

Slowly Rae realised that what she had done was wrong, but she had no idea why. She began to get upset and ran her fingers through her hair. Steve could see that she was getting agitated and began to move her towards the door.

"Sir, I'm sorry about this." To his amazement the Chief began to smile.

"Lieutenant, just this once, I will overlook it."

"Yes, Sir, thank you, Sir." Steve took the file from under Rae's arm and then propelled Rae out of the door, and shut it gratefully behind him. "Rae, we will never mention this again, to anyone, understand?"

"Please, Steve, what did I say wrong? I need to know."

She was getting more agitated, and Steve knew he had to put her mind at ease. "Honey, there is really nothing wrong with what you said. You just shouldn't have said it to him."

"Oh." Rae thought for a while. "But Steve, it's bad to talk about people behind their backs, isn't it? You shouldn't have talked behind his back at the party." She stopped talking and looked at him accusingly.

Ok, this is a problem; get yourself out of this one, Sloan.

Steve decided that he just had to go for it. "You're right, Rae. It is bad, and I shouldn't have done it. But it wasn't meant to be hurtful and I know he understands that because if he didn't, he would be really angry with me. So, there's no harm done."

"But Steve, you talked about him behind his back. That was wrong, wasn't it?"

Steve was trying very hard not to lose patience with her, but he could see that she wasn't going to let this go. "Yes, Rae, it was wrong, and I am sorry I did it." _Boy, am I sorry. _ "I won't do it any more. Can we please go back to work now?"

Her still simple sense of justice satisfied by his apology and his promise not to do it again, Rae suddenly brightened.  "Yes, Steve." Just as suddenly, she looked at the floor, then she took a breath. "I'm sorry, I embarrassed you didn't I?

"Never mind, it's over with."

They walked back into the squad room and Rae sat down to gather herself ready to carry on with her work.

The Captain came out into the room. "I would like to speak with you, Lieutenant, if you have a minute."

"Yes, Sir." Steve walked over to the Captain, and they moved out of earshot. They stood so that they could both see Rae at her desk and Steve could see that she had started to read the file.

"I am quite happy for Detective Yeager to be here, but Robertson is still your partner, until I say different, ok?"

"Yes, Sir, of course, there is no way that she is ready to come back yet, but this is doing her so much good. She is speaking faster now than when she came in, and she wrote half a page of notes about the case. You know, she sees everything in a different way now, almost…" he paused, he didn't want to diminish what she was accomplishing. "Almost a childlike way. She sees the important things differently, I think she will help us a lot."

"Ah, Lieutenant, she has her hand up!" The Chief looked worried. "That doesn't mean what I think it means does it?"

"What, oh no, it means she wants to speak." Steve laughed out loud. "I'd better get back, Sir."

"Yes, go ahead, Sloan, but keep me informed."

Steve nodded and headed back to her desk, he was still chuckling to himself when he got there. Rae looked at him.

"What's funny?"

Steve looked round, the Captain was back in his office. "Newman saw you with your hand up. He thought you wanted to go to the ladies room."

Rae began to laugh. She had a loud laugh, and she found that very funny. Slowly she calmed down again, then she frowned. "I can't remember what I was going to say now."

Steve had stopped laughing too. "I'm not surprised. Ok, think carefully, read through what you just read again, and it will probably come to you."

Rae nodded her head and began to read. Slowly a smile spread across her face, and she looked up. "It worked."

Then there was a pause. She was thinking very hard. "He was an agency worker."

"Sorry, Rae, he was an agency worker, what type of agency?"

Rae thought for a minute. "He came to work when the proper person wasn't there."

"Oh, a temp agency." Steve smiled as he realised what she meant.

"I don't say that. Why don't I say that?" She paused a moment. "Steve."

"Yes, honey." He had a feeling he was about to be asked a difficult question.

"Why do I sound different from you, Martin, everybody? I use different words too."

This time it was Steve who paused before he spoke. He thought so long that Rae put her hand on his arm.

"Steve?"

"It's complicated, Rae. I really think that it's something you need to work out for yourself. We need to concentrate on the case right now, but I know that this is important and we'll talk about it later, ok?"

"Ok." Rae began to think again. 

As Steve watched her, he breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness she hadn't wanted an explanation right now. He couldn't believe how lucky they had been that she hadn't realised before that she had a different accent to the rest of them. He hoped that now she was stronger she would be able to understand it easier. He ran his fingers through his hair as he thought about how she may have reacted if she had thought about this earlier. Well that was one problem he didn't have to face, thank God, he had enough without inventing ones of his own.

Rae was still concentrating and hadn't realised that her partner was deep in thought. She looked at her pad and slowly remembered what she had been saying. "He was a … temp, I would say temp … So was Franks. Was it the same… temp… agency?"

"I don't know, we haven't got that far yet. Why, do you think it's important?"

Rae was writing things down. Steve looked over her shoulder. She had written down three things. _What happened to the permanent men?  How long had they been there? Did they have permanent men? _Then Rae looked at Steve. "He was an honourable man. That is important. I know it is." Rae ran her hand across her eyes, and tried to stop a yawn. "Sorry."

"Rae, you've been here for almost three hours. I think it's time I took you home. I should think you could do with some sleep. But you have done well, haven't you?"

Rae smiled, and Steve waited. "Yes, and you're not cross anymore are you?  Can I come back tomorrow?"

"No, I'm not cross, I never was, I was just a bit shocked. Leave it until the morning and then decide. You can only come in here, I can't take you out with me, you know that don't you?"

"I know, I will work hard so I can come back properly."

She stood up and walked over towards the Captain's door. She knocked and opened it. "I am going home, please may I come back?"

"Of course, Detective, you are welcome to work in the squad room, any time. You know that until you pass certain tests you can't have your gun back, but I think you can wear this again." The Captain handed Rae her badge and saw the pleasure as it lit up her face. There was a pause and then Rae ran her fingers over it and looked up.

"Thank you."

"It was a pleasure to finally meet you." Newman held out his hand and Rae shook it, then she turned back round and walked over to Steve. 

"Look what I've got."

"Hey, welcome back partner." Steve smiled at her and watched as she clipped it to her jeans.

"I am very tired. Can you take me to Jesse?" Steve nodded and they walked together out of the room. He had filled Martin in on what he wanted him to do while he was away, and he wanted to let Mark and Theresa know just how well she had done today.


	10. Chapter 10 Beastly Behaviour

Beastly Behaviour 

Rae didn't go back into the precinct the next day, she had planned to go out for a run with Texas, and had been looking forward to it. They had only been running for a couple of weeks, and Rae was slowly getting her stamina back up. When she had found her running kit she had looked at Jesse and asked whose it was. It had taken him quite a while to persuade her that it was hers. But now that they had begun to do this properly she was enjoying it. She ran with Jesse once a week and Texas twice a week, for about half an hour each time.

They had been jogging for fifteen minutes when Jo turned to Rae. "Did you bring your pager?"

"Yes. It's in my pocket." Rae slowed down and pulled the Velcro apart on her pocket and pulled out a little device. Now that she was getting more independent Jesse had got it for her, so that she could go to the store on her own, or go over to the beach house, all she had to do was leave a message for Jesse and that was fine. She had a mobile, but she kept forgetting to charge it up, that had worried her for a while, until Jesse had told her that she had done that before her accident too.

"Good, I just wanted to make sure you had it."

Rae smiled and stopped running altogether. "Here it is. It was nice that Jesse bought it for me." 

"He loves you, Rae, he'd buy you the moon if he thought you wanted it."

Rae just smiled and hugged herself. Jo handed it back to her. "Come on then, we'd better get back, don't you have a meetin' with Theresa to let her know how you got on yesterday?"

Rae paused and began to think. "Yes, at one. It was very good yesterday… I want to go back again."

"Honey if what Steve told me is right, you will be back workin' there all the time real soon. He was very impressed with you an' what you did."

"I know." 

Rae was still smiling as they started to run again and Jo was laughing to herself. Rae still hadn't re-grasped the concept of compliments. If she agreed with you you soon knew it. They speeded up a little and before long they turned back into the parking lot at Rae's apartment block. She could see Tom parked in his normal space. She wanted to drive him, but she wasn't allowed to, not on her own yet. Suddenly a green Mercedes screeched into the lot and drew up by the side of them. A masked man leapt out of the back with a gun in his hand. He pointed it at Jo.

"Get in!"

"No, leave her alone." Rae moved forward, instantly back in police mode. She stared at the eyes of the gunman in front of her. Something in the back of her memory stirred, but she had no idea what. The man pushed her back and she struck her head on the wall and fell stunned to the ground.

"Rae, no!"

The man put the gun to Jo's head and pushed her into the car. Rae sat not knowing where she was or what to do, but slowly she remembered her pager. She pulled it out of her pocket, and sent a message to Steve's phone.

Steve was sat at his desk trying to keep his temper down, as he held on for connection to yet another of the office workers at the agency where the second victim of the warehouse murders worked. His cell phone began to ring and he answered it. 

His answering service gave him his message. "Hurry Rae Texas gone."

He slammed the phone down, looked round for Martin and called him. "Robertson, I'm going out, something has happened to Jo and Rae." With that he raced from the room and headed for his car. He had no idea where the message had come from so he decided to drive to Rae's place first. He put the siren onto the top of his car and floored the accelerator. 

He screeched into the parking lot and saw Rae on the ground. He leapt out of the car and ran over to her. "Rae, honey, can you hear me? Where's Jo? Rae, where's Texas?" His heart was racing as he waited for her to answer.

She looked up at him, she couldn't focus and she felt very sick. "She's gone. They took her."

Steve took his cell phone out of his jacket and dialled 911, then he sat next to Rae, took her arm and gently pulled her towards him. She leant into him and put her head on his chest. Then she looked up and began, very slowly, to speak.

"We had just got back. We were running. A car came in a green one. It was a …Mercedes. They stopped where you are and a man got out. He had a gun. I tried to stop him, but he pushed me against the wall… and he took her." She stopped talking and looked back down. Steve could feel her shaking and he held her tighter. 

"Who took her, Rae? Do you know who it was?" Part of him wanted to get back into his car and set off after Jo, but he knew he had to wait until Rae was safe.

"I do, but I can't remember. Dammit, Steve, I'm sorry." It was the first time that he had heard her get angry at herself about her memory. 

The ambulance pulled in beside them. Steve stood up and Rae tried to do the same. "No, Rae, you have to go on the gurney, after what happened to you." Rae didn't argue, as she went to stand up the world began to spin and she turned away and was sick in the gutter.

Jesse was working in Trauma One when he heard the arrival of another patient. Two minutes later Alex came into him. "Jesse, it's Rae who was just brought in, Mark is with her."

"Oh, God. Alex, please take over here." He didn't wait for an answer but rushed out of the room. He saw Steve pacing up and down outside in the hallway and instantly feared the worst.

"Steve, what's happened?"

"Jesse, I can't stay I have to go." With that he turned and left the ER at a run. Jesse moved over to the door to Trauma Two and looked in through the glass.

Rae was lying down with her eyes closed, so she didn't know that she was being watched. She felt awful. Not only did she feel sick, and her head hurt, but also she had let her friend be taken from right in front of her, and she hadn't been able to do anything to stop it. Suddenly she knew that she was going to be sick again.

"Mark." He was there with a bowl for her, and once she felt steady again, she looked up at him. "I need to speak to Jesse. He'll be so worried."

"Rae, you will have plenty of time for that. I have to keep you here over night. You only have a mild concussion but I am a little concerned, because it isn't that long since you were injured before. I am going to send you for x-rays and a CT Scan and then Jesse will be waiting for you in your room, ok?"

Rae nodded slightly. She wasn't surprised.

Steve phoned Martin on the way back to Rae's apartment and told him to meet him there. Then once he had arrived, he began to search the area, to see if anybody had seen a green car, or what had happened. But it was the middle of the morning on a weekday, and most of the apartments were empty, their occupants all at their places of work. The only person who was home lived at the back of the building, and had neither seen nor heard anything.

By the time Martin arrived, Steve needed somebody to yell at, and he was it. "Where the hell have you been? I called you almost an hour ago."

"I was busy when you called, I finished what I was doing and then I came. What happened?"

"Somebody has taken Jo. They assaulted Rae and took Jo." There was an empty soda can by Steve's foot and he kicked out at it. It shot away from him, hit Tom on the trunk and left a mark in the paintwork. "Dammit!"

"I hope you don't expect me to explain that, Lieutenant." Martin looked at him. He couldn't believe he had just said that to Steve Sloan! He admired the man so much, but he seemed to have gone completely to pieces in the hour or so since he had left the precinct. "We need to go and report this, and you need to hand it over to somebody else." Martin waited, not sure how the Lieutenant was going to react to the things he had just said.

"No way. I will sort this myself. Nobody else is gonna be in charge of this but me." Steve strode off towards his car, and Martin took a deep breath and followed him back to the station.

When Steve arrived back he stormed up the stairs and into the squad room. A few of the cops working there looked up, and seeing the mood he was in put their head's down and got on with what they were doing. Martin followed him up the stairs and walked in after him. 

Steve got on the phone and began to put an APB out for the green Mercedes. Then he began to type up a sheet, with Jo's description on it. He phoned Michael and told him what had happened, cancelled the dinner with Rae and asked him to get him an up to date photo.

Martin watched all this and then he walked over to him. "Sir, you are too personally involved, way too personally involved. If you don't back off, I will see the Captain myself."

Steve was out of his chair in an instant. He grabbed Martin by the jacket and before he knew what was happening the young detective found himself slammed against the wall. "Leave me alone, Robertson. I'm only putting up with you until Rae gets back. Now butt out."

"SLOAN! My office now! And put that detective down before you come in!" The Captain's voice shattered the already tense atmosphere of the squad room, and although what he said could have been perceived to be a joke, there was no humour in his voice. Steve let go of Martin's jacket and turned without a word and followed his Captain into his office.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Do you want me to suspend you?"

"No, Sir, I'm sorry. Somebody kidnapped my girlfriend this morning, and I was just trying to get things moving."

"Well, I suggest that you let somebody else get things moving. You will have nothing to do with her case, is that understood?" 

"But, Sir."

"No buts, now unless you want me to send you home I suggest that you go back out there and carry on with your own cases. And I would apologise as well if I were you."

Captain Newman sat down at his desk and picked up a file. "Don't forget to shut the door on your way out."

Steve went back to his desk. He sat with his head in his hands and tried to get himself under control.

Jo sat in the back of the Mercedes trying very hard not to look in the eyes of the man next to her, or the gun that he had pointing at her. She had no idea where they were going; they had been in the vehicle for about five minutes. There were curtains drawn across the back windows and the screen between the front and back halves of the car was blacked out.

"So, you are the secretary to James Worthington." 

Jo said nothing, but her mind was racing. She thought about Steve. If she ever got out of this, she was going to have a lot of explaining to do.

"I suggest that you talk to me. Otherwise, it will become extremely painful for you."

Jo turned and stared at the man next to her. Then she shut her eyes and twisted herself so that she was facing away from him. She froze as she felt the gun at the back of her neck, and then it was moved away. She felt an agonizing pain and then nothing.

Rae'd had her x-rays and the scan and had been put into a quiet private room. By the time Jesse got to her she was fast asleep. He had spent the time while he was waiting for her in Amanda's lab, and it was there that Mark found him.

"Jesse, I have admitted Rae, just over night. She was quite lucid when I was speaking to her, very distressed, but everything that she said made sense, and all her vital signs were normal. She has a mild concussion, and she was sick twice, but all things being equal she will be able to go home tomorrow. The only thing I would look out for is a worsening of the headaches."

Jesse and Amanda both breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Mark, can I go and sit with her?"

"Of course. She is in room 395."

Jesse sat looking at her. He could see that she was going to be all right. She didn't look at all like she had the last time she was in here. As he sat there his mind raced and he ran his fingers through his hair. He wasn't sure that he could live with this type of pressure and worry. For the first time he understood why Steve had so much trouble keeping a girlfriend. Before Rae began to stir two hours later he had made up his mind, he just couldn't stay and he would need to have a good talk to her when she got home. He made an excuse to the nurse on duty and then he left her, alone.

Jo woke up slowly and looked around her. She was in a hospital room. At least that is what it looked like. But there were bars on the window, and the bed was extremely uncomfortable. As she gradually pulled herself up into a sitting position she became aware of the fact that there was no noise. No human or animal noise. She could be the only person on the planet. That more than anything else frightened her. She stood up and moved gingerly over to the door.

As she got closer to it she stared. There was no handle on the inside. The fear within her welled up and she felt her chest constrict. She looked back towards the bed; there was a pot under it, and apart from the bed itself that was all she had. Suddenly panic overwhelmed her and she rushed at the door and started to bang on it.

She heard a voice in the hallway outside, and she moved away from the door. The fear of being alone was replace by the fear of the person she couldn't see. As she backed away the door opened and she looked into the face of the man who had attacked Rae.

When Rae woke up the next morning, she looked over to the chair next to her and was surprised to find that it was empty. It took her a while but she pushed the panic of being alone down. She needed Jesse, she wanted him to tell her why she was in the hospital, it scared her that she didn't know. She leant over and pressed the buzzer next to the bed and waited for a nurse to come in. Once she had said good morning and asked for some breakfast she lay back and tried to remember what had happened. The nurse had told her that she had to wait and see Doctor Sloan before she could have anything to eat, so she carried on thinking and worrying instead. Soon she felt that her head would burst, she couldn't ask the nurse about Jesse, because she didn't know her. Leaning over once again she buzzed to try to get the nurse to give her some painkillers.

 Instead it was Alex who answered it.

"Hey, Rae, how are you feeling this morning?" He walked over and picked up the chart from the end of the bed and then moved towards her.

She thought for a while, and Alex, being used to how she behaved, waited quietly. "I'm scared and I have a bad headache. Alex, where's Jesse?"

"Rae?" Alex's voice was soft as he spoke to her. "Why are you scared?"

She paused again as she tried to explain how she felt. "Because I woke up on my own. Nobody was here. Jesse should be here." Rae looked at the young doctor and he could see the confusion and sadness in her eyes.

Taking a deep breath he began to explain something he really didn't understand himself. "He went home last night. I guess you didn't spot that he wasn't there when you were checked in the night then?"

"No, I sleep at night… Alex, why didn't he stay?" Rae put her head in her hands and Alex watched her with a worried expression on his face.

"I don't know why he didn't stay. Rae, are you all right, do you feel dizzy or sick?" He sat down beside her, with his arm over her back, and he could feel her controlling her breathing.

"No, my head hurts and I'm just trying to remember what hap…" Alex could tell as she suddenly did just that. "Oh, my God, Texas. Did they find her?"

"No, not that I know of. Mark wasn't in when I looked, so I haven't been able to ask him." He stood up again and began to check her over. Ten minutes later he smiled at her. "Ok, I'll get you your painkillers, but I can't see any reason why you can't get dressed and wait for Mark to discharge you. He will be here in about…" he checked his watch "ten minutes, so you have got enough time to get yourself ready. If you need anything, just buzz, ok?"

Rae nodded and waited. After Alex had given her her medication she slid the bedcovers back. Then she placed her feet on the floor and very warily stood up. To her surprise and relief the room stayed where it was supposed to be and she walked across to the bathroom.

"I'll see you later, Rae."

Rae was inside the bathroom before she had formed her reply. "Yeah, thanks, Alex."

Jo stared in horror as the man in front of her began to talk. "Ah, Miss Walters, you are awake, good. Please sit down we have a lot to discuss." The man walked towards her and Jo backed away from him until she felt the bed behind her and she sank on to it. 

"My name is Joseph Donovan, I think I saw you at the funeral of Worthington's wife."

"I saw you, you almost killed my friend."

"Yes, shame about the almost. Now, you and I need to have a little talk."  Jo recoiled in horror as Donovan put his hand on her leg.  "I have been trying to reach some of the scientists who were on the list we obtained from your workplace. Unfortunately they seem to be very difficult to locate. You however, are obviously not seen as a security risk, as you were very easy to find."

"I have no intention of helpin' you, or your kooky friends."

"All I need is the disc which tells me what the side effects are on some of the medications that we have produced from the files we took."

"I was his secretary, I had nothin' to do with the scientific side of things."

"What a shame, oh, well then, we will just have to try them on you instead."

Jo went completely cold as she heard his words. As he finished speaking two other people, one of whom was carrying a tray with medical equipment on it, entered the room and walked towards her. The door shut behind them and although she backed away she knew that she had nowhere to run.

When Rae came out of the bathroom, fifteen minutes later, having had a shower cleaned her teeth and got dressed; she was delighted to find Steve sitting waiting for her. He stood as he saw her; she smiled and slowly worked out what she wanted to say.

"Hey, partner, have you heard anything about Texas?"

"No. Rae are you ok? Only I need you to come into work. Please?"

Rae looked at him. His eyes were haunted. "Oh, Steve. I am so sorry, I just couldn't stop them taking her." She moved over to him and put her arms around him. He leant gratefully into them and she could feel him trying to keep himself under control. "I'll check with your dad, but I will come in with you… Steve, why isn't Jesse here?"

Steve moved away from her, his problems momentarily forgotten. "What do you mean Jesse isn't here?"

"I woke up, and no one was here, I guess I made him cross again. I was scared…I didn't know why I was here, I had to think on my own, Steve, I didn't like it."

Steve felt his anger rise, how could Jesse have left Rae to come round on her own, after everything that had happened? "Honey, I don't know why he isn't here, but I'm sure there is a good reason for it." _At least there better be!_

"Thank you." Rae smiled at his words, and then she carried on talking. "I'll ask him when I see him."

At that moment Mark came into the room. "Hi sweetie, how are you this morning?" He waited.

 "Ok, I have a headache." 

Mark smiled. The childish way of talking was not quite so apparent, but if you changed the subject, or surprised her with what you were going to say it came rushing back to the fore.

"I will give you something for it, I guess your medication is at home, or have you run out again?"

"No. Alex gave me some… I have a note, I won't do that again. Mark, where's Jesse?"

"I don't know, Rae, but I think he's probably working." He paused, then not really knowing what to say decided to just carry on with his own job. "Ok, well let me just check what Alex did this morning." Mark went over the chart, then he moved over to Rae and checked her pulse. He also checked her eyes and ran his fingers over the back of her head. She jumped a little but other than that she just sat and let him run his tests.

Five minutes later he put the chart back on the end of the bed and looked at her. "Right, well I don't think we need to keep you here any longer. I guess you want to go in with Steve, but no more than four hours ok? When it gets to about two this afternoon then you have to come here for your appointment with Theresa."

"Thank you… Mark will you tell Jesse I've gone?" 

"Of course I will." 

She stood up and walked over to him. Then she kissed him on the cheek, turned and moved over to her partner. There was a slight pause, and then she began to talk. "Come on, it's my turn to help you. Let's see what we can do, together." With that they both smiled at Mark and left the room.

Jesse was in the ER while Rae was being discharged. He just couldn't go up and see her. Now he had made his decision he felt that he had to keep away. She would know soon enough what was going on. Until then he would keep his distance.

Amanda came out of the lift and saw Jesse writing up some notes at the reception desk. "Jesse, Mark just phoned me. Why aren't you with Rae?"

"I just had to work instead." Jesse knew it sounded lame, but he really didn't want to talk about it.

"Hold on a minute, mister. Maybe you had better think up a better excuse than that."

"I don't want to talk about it, Amanda, and besides I don't know what you mean."

"I mean your behaviour towards Rae, Alex said that you weren't there when she woke up, and now you aren't taking her home. She needs you, Jess, it's you she loves, you she trusts, she expects care and consideration, not this, this beastly behaviour!"

"Drop it, Amanda. I'll sort it out with Rae, but in my own time. Now I really do have work to do." With that Jesse turned his back on his friend, and with a loud sigh Amanda headed back towards her lab.

Jo felt herself being shaken, and slowly opened her eyes. As she did so she felt her stomach heave. "Sit up." The voice by her ear was sharp and insistent. She tried to obey.

"I can't. Please help me." 

"Well, she seems very compliant. What symptoms does she have?"  She felt somebody take hold of her shoulders and pull her into a sitting position. She felt her stomach roll and put her hand over her mouth. There was a bowl in front of her instantly and she was very sick into it. What came out was green. _That is not good; I know that is not good._

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that." She knew that she had to please these people who were in front of her, to help them in any way that she could.

"Nausea," She heard somebody speak close to her and felt something being put into her mouth. "She feels hot, the thermometer won't take long. Look at this pen." 

Jo tried to focus on the pen in front of her but it kept moving. She shook her head. "I can't, I'm sorry."

"Dani, why does she keep apologising?" Jo realised that Joseph Donovan was also standing in front of her.

The blonde haired young woman in the white coat smiled at her dashing activist and touched his arm, then she took the thermometer out of Jo's mouth and shook it. "Temperature is 103. I guess she is apologising because it seems to make her want to help you. Try asking her something that you know she wouldn't have answered before you gave her the stuff."

"We need to know everything that you can tell us about Worthington Laboratories. Especially the type of government contracts they did."

"They do work for the government. But I don't know what sort. I didn't know that until Agent Wagner came with Steve." Jo stopped talking and smiled.

"What did you do at Worthington Laboratories?"

"I was James Worthington's private secretary. I dealt with all his personal stuff, did the bankin', an' made his appointments, that sort of thing."

 Joseph thought for a moment. "Do you remember the details of his bank accounts?"

"Of course, I can go an' sign for his money, whenever I want. I am a signatory."

"Well, well. Now isn't that interesting. I think you had better do just that." 

Jo stood up, "I don't want to go on my own, will you come with me?"

"Of course." Joseph Donovan took her by the arm and led her towards the door. He banged on it, and it swung open. As they headed down a long white hallway Jo snuggled up to him and they continued down and out into the sunlight.

Dani watched as the young woman leant up against her love, and feeling her anger rise she stripped her latex gloves off, threw them into the trash, turned abruptly and headed back off down the corridor to where the pathogen's were kept.

Rae and Steve arrived at the precinct together. Steve went over and got her a cup of tea and a black coffee for himself. Martin moved over towards her. "Hi, Rae, how are you feeling this morning?"

Rae smiled at him and kept walking to her desk. As she got there she looked at him. "I feel fine, but I am worried about Steve."

"Yeah, me too. Are you gonna help him? Only I think he prefers to work with you."

Rae smiled and ran her fingers through her hair. "Guess it's my… my…" Rae stopped talking. "Martin, help me… I mean things that make people like me."

Martin thought for a minute. "Ah, people like your personality, is that what you mean?

"I think so… but more than that."

"Oh, right, your magnetic personality." There was a pause and then she spoke again.

"That's it." Rae beamed, and then her mind moved onto other things. "Can I have my desk back?"

Martin nodded and moved over to the small empty desk that was situated in the corner. Steve walked back and put the drink down in front of Rae. She went to open the drawer of her desk and stopped.

"Rae, what is it? Are you all right?" Steve looked at her with concern. Just for a moment he focused on her instead of himself and Jo. 

She looked at her hand and then at him. "I hurt my hand in this drawer."

"Honey, you did, and I know it's real important to you, but can we talk about it later?" His tone was short and he turned from her. 

"Tell me what I did first."

"There was glass in it, and you cut it. Now forget it, so we can get on, ok?" Steve was worried and tired and so he spoke much more harshly than he had intended.

 Rae stared at Steve, she knew he was worried, but he didn't normally snap at her. Rae also knew that there was nothing she could do so she took a deep breath, looked at the drawer and then at the scars on her hand and began to think. Almost every day her hand ached and felt uncomfortable. She still didn't know why, she knew she had done it here, but now she knew that she wouldn't find out what had happened yet. "I made you cross, I'm sorry."

"What, oh no, Rae, it's me. Look when things get better, when we find Jo, we can spend some time talking about this. Ok?"

"Ok. What do you want me to do?" 

"I'm gonna look things up on the Internet, and I want you to see if anything makes you remember. But before that I am gonna see if there is anything on file about Jo. Maybe there is something in her past that is the reason for this. She is quite wealthy I think. So maybe that is it."

Steve opened up the police files and typed in Josephine Walters, and then waited. He was prompted for a home state and put in Texas. He couldn't believe his eyes as the screen filled with information, and he put his cup down with such force that he smashed it into the table and it broke.

Rae rushed over to him. She was so concerned that she couldn't form any words in her brain, so she just looked at the screen. There in front of her was the police service record of Detective Josephine Walters.


	11. Chapter 11 Snake In The Grass

Snake In The Grass 

Steve hit the print button and two copies of the service record came smoothly out of the printer in front of them. Rae picked them up and handed one to Steve, then she went back to her desk and sat down. Slowly she began to read through it.

Jo had worked for the police department in Austin, Texas. She had been a Detective in homicide and a firearms specialist. In the middle of April 1993 she was temporarily re-assigned to assist the police in Waco, Texas. Rae looked over at Steve, his face was completely without expression as he read, but as she watched him it changed, and she guessed that he was reading the same piece she was.

Rae got up and walked over to his desk. "Steve." She hadn't planned to say anything else; she just stood with her hand on his shoulder.

"I need to get out of here, Rae, will you come with me?"

Rae just nodded; she knew that he wouldn't want to wait for her to speak. Steve stood up and they walked slowly out into the sunlight. They went over to Steve's car and he looked at her. "Rae, can you drive me to your place?"

Rae smiled broadly. "Yes." They got in and Rae put her seatbelt on. It was the first time that Steve had let her drive since the accident. She had been out with Texas and Jesse, but this meant a lot to her. 

Rae had always been a cautious driver, and Steve watched her carefully, but he couldn't see any difficulties. He had asked her to drive because he didn't think he could concentrate on it himself, but seeing her face he was glad he had suggested it.

They pulled into the parking lot next to Tom and Rae turned the engine off. Then she turned and smiled a big smile. "Thank you. You treat me like you think I'm better, nobody else does."

"Honey, you are better, it's only your speech that shows there was anything wrong. I don't think it'll be long before we're working together again properly. Come on we need to look at the stuff on Jo, and find out some more. Can I use your laptop?"

"Of course."

Once they had made themselves a drink they sat at Rae's table and began to go through Jo's service record once again. There were three pages of it and it ended just after the massacre at Waco in 1993, when she left the service on medical grounds. 

"She never said anything to me about being a cop, did she tell you?" Steve looked at Rae who was reading slowly through the pages and making notes in the margin every now and then. She looked up.

"No." Rae paused. "She asked me why I was a cop… she used guns a lot?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah, and in Waco she probably needed to be an expert. It was a very dark moment in our country's history." He shook his head.

"Yeah, I remember." Rae smiled at him, he seemed so sad.

Steve looked at her and realised the importance of what she had just said. "You remember it, really?"

There was a long pause this time, and Steve could see that she was trying very hard with what she wanted to say.

"I thought it was very sad…She must have cried a lot…don't be cross with her."

"I'm not cross with her, Rae, I'm worried sick about her, but I am disappointed that she couldn't tell me." Steve leant over and picked up his cell phone. "I'm just gonna phone Michael and tell him to bring the picture over here."

Rae looked puzzled. "I don't know who he is."

"He's Jo's butler." Steve waited. He knew that in a moment he would get a reaction.

"Oh!" 

Steve felt a laugh burst from his lips. 

"Wow." Rae's eyes were huge.

"Oh, Rae, I've missed you." 

The light moment was almost instantly over. "If she has a butler, she must have lots of money."

"I know, I need to find out if she has, because that could be why she was taken." Steve dialled the number and waited.

Rae got up and wandered over towards the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and took a tin of cat food out.  She could hear Steve talking as she put some in the little bowl on the plastic mat by the sink and started to make kissy noises. Kira got up, stretched lazily and arched her back. Then she looked around in a very haughty manner and walked slowly towards the food. Rae smiled indulgently at her, ticked the list on the refrigerator, and then went back to the sofa. "Your tablets are good."

"Yeah, I'd forgotten all about her, and I feel fine. Right Michael is coming over, and we need to get busy, we are way too slow here. Let's look up Walters and Texas and see what we come up with."

Steve didn't look up as he spoke, so he didn't see the reaction Rae had to his words. She got up silently and walked away. He put his information into the search engine and then looked around. He was surprised to see that Rae had moved off.

"Rae, come on we have got to get a move on. Anything could be happening to her."

He turned back to his work; he knew that Rae would reply when she was ready. He watched as the search results came through, there were a few items and he started to go through them. They all seemed to relate to a large cattle ranching and oil producing family.

Everything that Steve read made his head swim. If this really was Jo's family, then she didn't just have a butler, but the ability to buy anything that he could ever imagine. Steve went into the business section of the search engine and put the company name in again. The figures that came up in front of him were mind-boggling. If these were the same Walters's, and Steve was sure they were then Jo was part of one of the wealthiest families in Texas, if not the whole of the United States. 

Steve sighed and leant back on the sofa, he realised that Rae hadn't replied to the last thing he had said and he looked round. She was nowhere to be seen. Feeling his anger rising he stood up and headed for the bedroom, which he knew was where she went when she had a problem.

"Rae, don't you want to help me find Jo?" Steve's voice was loud and Rae jumped as he started to speak. There was silence for a moment and then Rae turned to him. He was shocked to see tears on her face and he moved quickly to her side. "Honey, what is it?"

"I'm too slow. You need Martin."

Steve realised what he had said and took her hand. "Rae, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. I don't want Martin, he doesn't know Jo like you do, and he doesn't know me. You are the one I want to work with. So, what do you say, partner, will you come back and help me? At your pace, not mine, if I go too fast for you it's only because I am worried about Jo, not mad at you, ok?"

"Ok." Rae stood up, and as she did so they heard the doorbell. Steve walked out to answer it, and Rae came up behind him. She smiled shyly at the man who was standing there, and Steve invited him in.

"Rae, this is Michael, Jo's butler. Michael this is my partner, Detective Reagan Yeager."

Michael held his hand out and smiled. "Good afternoon, madam, I'm pleased to meet you."

Rae's face broke into a huge grin. There was a pause and then she spoke. "You come from England."

"Yes, madam, South London, actually."

There was another pause, and then Steve saw Rae realise that she remembered something. "I used to work in London. I was a policewoman in London." There was another pause and then Rae looked at Steve. "Bad things have happened to you and Jesse since I have been here, and to me, like my hand." She flexed the fingers of her right hand as she spoke.

"They have, honey. I'm sorry, I will talk to you about it, but not right now, ok? "

"You are busy. I will find Jesse." Steve let her go, he knew that she needed to talk to somebody, but so did he; he needed to find out all he could about Jo.

Steve indicated to Michael that he should sit on the sofa, and then he sat opposite him. He got his notebook out and looked at the smartly dressed and obviously worried man sitting in front of him.

"I need you to tell me about Jo. I don't mean the things that she wanted me to know, but the things that she didn't. I know you are very loyal, but she has been kidnapped and we haven't heard anything. I don't know if her parents have or not, so you need to find that out for me, and keep me apprised of anything that they hear before us."

"Yes, Sir. I thought that is what you would want, so I phoned her home before I left. Her parents are both dead, but her younger brother runs the Texas end of the business, and he hadn't heard anything. He has a three man delegation with him from Japan at the moment, but he said that once we hear anything to contact him again, and if you wish it he will fly to Los Angeles immediately."

"The Texas end of the business is still Walters Oil and Walters Ranching isn't it?"

"Yes, Sir. Madam is the chairperson and major stockholder of both companies. As you have probably already worked out, she could quite possibly have been taken for her money; she is an exceptionally wealthy woman. Not that she lets it have any undue influence on her everyday life as you have seen."

"So she could have been kidnapped because of her money. But nobody has heard anything since she was taken. If only Rae could remember what she saw. Michael did you bring a photo?"

"Yes, Sir. I thought that this would be the best one." He held out a picture that he had taken when he had his Saturday morning off. Jo and Steve had been working in the garden and had been sitting enjoying the sunshine on the patio by the pool when the picture had been taken. Jo looked relaxed and happy and it was a beautiful photo.

"Thank you, Michael. That's great. Right, I'm gonna head back to the station, I'll just leave a note for Rae. She has a hospital appointment at three, so she won't be coming back to work today." Steve was writing as he spoke, and then he and Michael left the apartment and Steve locked up. 

Rae had knocked at Jesse's door and after a minute he had answered. "Can I come in?"

Jesse really wanted to say no, but he just nodded and opened the door completely.

Rae sat down and thought about what she wanted to say; she wanted to ask him about living in London, and about her hand. Somehow she knew Steve and Jesse had been hurt when she had hurt her hand but she didn't know why. But before that she needed to know something else. "You weren't there when I woke up."

"I know, I couldn't be."

"Why?"

Jesse looked at her. He loved her with all his heart, but he had to speak out now. "I can't do this any more, Rae. I love you, but I can't be with you any more. I'll help you get better, but that's all."

"I am better. It's just my speech." Rae stopped talking. Jesse couldn't look at her and he turned away. Rae moved round and stood in front of him again and put her hands on his shoulders so that he couldn't move. "So, we are finished?"

Jesse nodded and Rae backed away. She opened the door and headed back to her own apartment. She unlocked the door and saw Steve's note stuck on the back of it.

_Rae, _

_I have gone back to the station. I know you have to see Theresa this afternoon, so I will see you tomorrow._

_Take care, and keep smiling,_

_Love_

_Steve._

She read it through twice and then screwed it up and threw it in the bin. Then she went into her bedroom and changed into her running kit and headed back out of her apartment.

At half past three Mark headed for the phone, he had a smile on his face as he put a call through to the station and asked for Steve.

"Sloan here…Oh, hey, Dad… no we worked at her place this morning, but I left there about an hour ago…no she was at Jesse's…Ok… no nothing, but I'm working on it."

Mark put the phone down and then dialled Jesse's number. "Jesse, it's Mark, is Rae still with you…? No, she didn't turn up…Oh, why was she upset…? Jesse, is there something wrong…? Ok, but I think we may need to talk." Mark hung up and tried Rae's number, he got no reply so he left a message on her machine, and with a worried look on his face went in search of Alex.

"Alex, you are about to finish your shift aren't you? Could you get in your car and go look for Rae? I don't know what has happened, but she hasn't turned up for her meeting with Theresa, she isn't at home or work."

"Of course, I'll go now, if you could cover for me for…" Alex checked his watch, "five minutes?"

"Thank you, Alex, when you find her will you bring her back here?"

Alex nodded and headed towards the exit. It took him just over twenty minutes to get to Rae and Jesse's apartment block and he pulled into the parking lot and looked around. Mark had given him his key and he went into the building. First of all he knocked at Jesse's door. 

Jesse looked through his peephole and saw Alex standing outside. He took a deep breath and then opened the door. "Alex, what can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for Rae, she didn't come to see Theresa today, do you know where she is?"

"No, sorry, I don't. Didn't she call or anything?" 

"No, look Jesse, could you come with me, two sets of eyes will be better than one?"

"Yeah, ok. I'll just get my jacket." 

While he waited Alex checked Rae's apartment, which was empty. Then for the next hour Alex and Jesse scoured the area looking for Rae. As each minute passed Jesse felt closer and closer to despair.  He knew that he wouldn't take back what he had said, but he also knew that it was his fault that Rae had disappeared.

Steve put the phone down to his dad and immediately turned his mind back to Jo. He was concerned about Rae, but he knew that his dad would deal with any problems there. As he looked over the information he had got on Jo once again the phone rang.

"Sloan…Mr. Worthington, what can I do for you?" Steve's heart sank; he hadn't even thought to let James Worthington know that Jo had gone missing.

"Do you know where Miss Walters is, Lieutenant, and more to the point what she thinks she is doing?"

"I'm sorry, Sir, I don't understand what you are saying."

"The company bank account has been almost emptied today. We have an account with Provident and Miss Walters withdrew one hundred and seventy five thousand dollars just over an hour ago. I thought I could trust her. That's why I made her a signatory for my accounts, now she appears to have been a snake in the grass, all along."

"Where are you, Mr. Worthington, I am coming straight over." 

"I am back in my office, Lieutenant, could you tell me what is going on?" But there was nobody on the other end of the line and a very mystified James Worthington put the phone down.

"Martin you're with me, now!" Steve stormed out of the office and Martin thinking that compliance was probably his best bet followed behind. He didn't get the chance to find out what was happening until he had been in the car for about five minutes.

"Steve, hold on, where are we going, and why?"

"Worthington just called. Jo took almost two hundred thousand dollars out of the company bank account, and I want to know why."

They drew up outside Worthington Laboratories. It looked old and uncared for. Already there were banks of weeds growing up by the building walls and graffiti had been daubed on the front gates. James Worthington was waiting just outside the gates in his car and Steve pulled up along side.

"Lieutenant, I thought that we should go to the bank and discuss this problem there. But first, how is Detective Yeager? I am disappointed to see that she is not back with you."

Steve smiled at this man who always seemed to put other people before himself. "She is much better, thank you. It won't be much longer before she is back with me, she has been working at the precinct, but she isn't quite up to working on the streets yet." Steve paused. "We will follow you, Sir. You have to believe that Jo isn't doing this willingly."

"Well, we will discuss that, Lieutenant." James Worthington's window rose slowly up and he pulled away. Steve turned the car round, and followed him. 

Jo was feeling quite pleased with herself. She had got the money that her new friends had asked her for; they had given her the injection that they said she needed, although she couldn't remember why it was necessary.  But they had been pleased with her, and she now had another pillow on her bed and a magazine to read. 

She sat there thinking about her day. They had gone to the bank and she had walked over to the manager. He was an old man, but she had spoken to him lots of times in the past. She explained that they were starting a new experimentation division and this was to get everything up and running. He had suggested that they go to the cash desk furthest from the door and the cashier had counted out all the money and then it had been put into the briefcase that Joseph had taken with him and he had given her the five dollars for her magazine out of the case later. She looked at her hands and realised that the still had the gloves on that she had worn in the bank. She shrugged, she had nowhere else to put them, so she kept them on.

Steve sat absolutely speechless. Both he and James Worthington were in Mr. Martinez' office watching the bank security tape. He had insisted that Martin stand guard on the door, because he didn't want him to see what was on the tape. They had seen it twice already, but Steve wanted to see it again. He couldn't believe that Jo had stood there, with the man who had attacked Rae and calmly stolen all that money, while Mr. Martinez had had a gun held to his side. He wasn't sure if she had seen the gun, it seemed to him that her accomplice, for that is what he appeared to be, had kept it hidden from her. He needed to speak to his dad. As he had been watching the video he kept thinking about when Alex had been staying in a reality television house and they had been talking about what it was called when kidnap victims relate to their captors. But he couldn't for the life of him think what it was called.

"Lieutenant, I need to know why Miss Walters took all that money. From what I understand, money is one thing she isn't short of." James Worthington was obviously trying to keep his temper under control.

Steve took a deep breath. _Oh, so you knew about it did you. She didn't share that little nugget with me. _"If you would like to go out to my car, with Detective Robertson, Sir, he will explain as best he can what has happened to Miss Walters."

James Worthington stood up, he opened the door and Steve told Martin what he wanted him to do. As Martin left his post, he saw Steve writing out a receipt for something.

"You contacted Mr. Worthington before you called the police, I am grateful for that. I will need to take this tape with me, Mr. Martinez. I will give you a receipt."

Steve looked at the worried manager sitting opposite him.

 "I have seen Miss Walters in this bank many times, Lieutenant, she didn't strike me as anything other than a very nice young woman. Also there was something … unnatural about her behaviour. She seemed to behave as if what she was doing was fine, but the man with her, well you saw the gun." He shuddered as he remembered the feeling of the gun in his ribs.

"Sir, what I am about to tell you is highly confidential…Miss Walters was kidnapped yesterday morning, she was taken away in a green Mercedes, but we haven't received a ransom note, neither has her family in Texas. I'm afraid that I can't tell you any more."

"So, do you think that this could be a case of Stockholm syndrome?"

Steve snapped his fingers. "I was trying to think of that all the time I was watching the video. I don't know, I don't think she has been gone long enough for that. I have to admit I don't know what to think. But I know that she didn't do this willingly, and I am asking you, as a favour to me, because Miss Walters is not only a kidnap victim, but someone I care for very much, to let this robbery stay secret, for forty-eight hours." 

Mr. Martinez looked at the young man in front of him. He could see the strain in his face, he had already gone against normal procedure when he contacted James Worthington instead of the police, and for a reason he would never completely understand he nodded. "Forty-eight hours, Lieutenant, then I have to contact my superiors, who will undoubtedly contact the FBI."

"Thank you, Sir, I can't tell you how much I appreciate this. Steve picked up the video and then shook hands with Mr. Martinez. "I will be in touch, Sir." Then he left the bank, hiding the tape under his jacket as he did so.

Martin was standing by the car still talking to Mr. Worthington. "If you hear anything, Sir, could you please contact me on my cell phone. You have the number. If you can't reach me, you can call Detective Yeager, she will be working in the station most mornings."

Steve got into the car without a word and started the engine. Martin just had time to shut the door before he drew away leaving James standing in the parking lot unable to say anything further. Martin was not in that position, "This isn't our case. You know that. Now you may be prepared to get suspended because of your personal involvement but I'm not. If you don't back off I will report you. You were writing a receipt for something, and I don't see anything in your hand, I can only put up with this for so long… Sir."

"Thank you, Detective. I know what I'm doing. If you don't like it I suggest you find yourself another partner. Rae will be back in tomorrow, so I will work with her."

Martin didn't reply. Steve's tone brooked no argument, and he knew that it wouldn't matter what he said, Steve wouldn't move away from this case.

It was just after five o'clock when Jesse and Alex decided to go back to the apartment house in case Rae had returned there. 

"You had better go and see if she is in. I'll only make matters worse."

"Jesse, what happened? Do you know why we've lost Rae?"  

Jesse took a deep breath. He supposed that his friends would have to know soon. "We broke up. I told her I couldn't be with her any more."

"Jesse! Why would you do that? I thought you wanted to marry her…at least that's what I heard." Alex stopped talking. He didn't usually listen to gossip, but everybody had seen Rae leave the ball, and then when she had been so badly hurt, well, it had started everybody talking.

"I did, Alex. But I can't cope with wondering the whole time whether she will go out in the morning and never come home. Trouble seems to follow her. I can't deal with that any more."

Alex didn't know what to say, so he decided to say nothing. He got out of the car and headed towards Rae's door. He saw Jesse go into his own apartment, and knew that if Rae wasn't home he would have to continue searching on his own.

Alex knocked on the door and waited. He was about to leave when he heard a noise and slowly the door opened. Rae stood there, looking very tearful and his heart went out to her. "Rae, can I come in?"

She nodded her head, and moved out of the way. Alex walked in and shut the door behind him. "Can I use your phone?" Rae nodded again and he moved over to it. He dialled the number for Community General and waited. "Oh, hi, Doctor Sloan please, it's Doctor Martin…Mark, hi, it's Alex…Yeah I'm with her…She was back home by the time we found her…I don't know where she went yet…Yeah…" Alex lowered his voice. "She and Jesse have split up…I'll come back with her in a little while." Alex put the phone down and moved over to where Rae was sitting.

"Rae, look at me." Alex put his hand over hers.

"No."  Rae looked purposefully at the floor. Alex took a deep breath and tried again.

"We were all so worried about you, where have you been?"

"Running."

"We need to go and see Mark and Theresa, I think we should go now."

Rae said nothing, she stood up then she turned to him. "Will Jesse be there?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Oh."

Alex didn't know if she was pleased or disappointed. He took her by the hand and they headed down towards his car.

Jo was beginning to feel very ill. She'd had four injections during the day and her head was swimming. She needed to tell her new friends that she didn't feel very well, but every time she tried to stand up and head towards the door it seemed to move away from her. In the end she decided to crawl along the floor, but as she got down there the whole room seemed to tilt and she collapsed to the ground and just lay there.

Although she didn't realise it Jo was being continually watched. As she fell the door opened and Dani Barlow, entered the room, pulling on her gloves as she did so. She felt for a pulse, and laid the back of her hand on Jo's forehead. Then she straightened up and left the room a serene look on her face. Jo Walters wouldn't be much of a threat to her anymore. She was too sick now to be any fun for Donovan.

Soon the room was full of people. Joseph Donovan looked down at her. He had hoped to be able to use her again, but he had a feeling that she wouldn't respond to any more of the medication. They had learnt a lot from her. "Take her to Community General and leave her in the parking lot." Then he turned and left the room. "Oh and leave this with her."

"You mean you're just going to let her go?" Dani looked at this man that she so admired and secretly loved.

"Yeah, she's no longer useful here, but there will be no point to this exercise if we don't will there? Don't worry, sweetie, I will still be here with you." He ran his finger down Dani's cheek and she bathed in his attention.

As Steve walked back into the squad room he heard his name being called. 

"Sloan, my office now. Don't take your jacket off." Captain Newman turned as he spoke, but Steve could see that his face was like thunder. He followed his Captain into his office and shut the door.

"Sir… If I could just explain."

"If you need to explain, Lieutenant, then you have done something wrong. Now which part of the fact that Miss Walters's disappearance wasn't your case are you having problems with? You are supposed to be working the murder of two night watchmen. You are also babysitting your new partner, because he hasn't been a detective for very long, and your regular partner because she is recovering from a serious injury, you do not have the authority to go running off on cases that do not concern you."

"Not concern me. Oh, for God's sake, she's my girlfriend, she was kidnapped right under Rae's nose, and we have no idea where she is. Have you found out any of the information that I have? No! Do you have a photo of her to be circulated? No! She is being looked for by incompetents!"

"That is enough, Lieutenant!" Captain Newman was on his feet now, and his voice was tight. "I suggest that you take yourself home, and unless you can control yourself, don't come back in tomorrow. I am sure that Reagan can work with Detective Robertson."

Steve looked at him. He was trying to keep his temper under control.  "I will go, but I intend to stay involved, and you can't stop me."

"Lieutenant, you are to keep away from the Walters case, and I will restrict you to desk duty if you don't change your attitude. Please close the door as you leave."

Steve glared at him and left. He made sure that everybody knew he had shut the door and then he left the precinct. He phoned his dad and waited for him to answer.

"Doctor Sloan…Oh, hi Son… Yes she's here now. Could you come over, I think she wants to talk to you."

Steve got in his car and drove quietly to the hospital. His knuckles were white on the wheel, his thoughts whirling, and he purposely took the long way so that he could get himself under control.

Rae and Alex had arrived and were sitting in Theresa's office. Theresa was trying to get Rae to talk to her, but she was having trouble putting her thoughts into words. Alex had told Theresa about Jesse and what Rae had said, and then he had moved to a seat at the back of the room so that he was there in case he was needed.

"Rae look at me, I need to know what has happened since you were here last. We don't have to start with today, but I know you are upset, I need you to tell me what is making you upset, yesterday and today." Theresa knew that she could refer Rae over to Brian Dobson, but they had been getting along so well that she thought she would try to get Rae to cope with what had happened to her over the last few days.

Rae ran her fingers through her hair and then flexed the fingers of her right hand. "I hurt my hand."

"I know you did, but that didn't happen today or yesterday did it? We need to talk about that. What happened yesterday with Jo?"

"She has gone. I don't want to talk about it…I lost her."

"Rae, how did you lose her?"

"The man took her. I let him."

"Rae, tell me what happened."

There was a long pause; Theresa knew there would be. "The car stopped. A man got out. He had a gun. He pushed me and … I hurt my head… then she was gone." Rae put her hand over her mouth for a minute then she began to talk again. "Teesa, he had a rabbit."

Rae still couldn't say her name, and Theresa had no idea why anyone would have a rabbit when they were abducting somebody.

"I must tell Steve, he had a rabbit." Rae looked at Alex and saw him get his cell phone out of his pocket. "I'll do that, you keep talking."

Rae stood up and walked over to the window, she looked out for a minute and Theresa let her gather her thoughts. She knew what Rae had to tell her was going to be difficult. Her words were still limited, as if she had to learn all the meanings again. She had a feeling that Rae was going to have trouble explaining what had happened with Jesse.

Rae turned back round. There were tears in her eyes as she moved back over to Theresa. "Jesse doesn't like me anymore."

"Rae, I'm sure he still likes you. He loves you doesn't he?"

"No. He said no more. Now it's just me."

Alex looked up. "Rae, Steve said thanks. The rabbit was a great help."

Rae smiled at him. "Steve says I'm better."

Theresa smiled and silently thanked the absent Steve Sloan. "You are better, Rae. We only practice your talking and your words, and try to jog your memory; everything else is so much better than it was. I would say that you were better too. Come and sit down now."

"Ok. I want to go back to work. I need to find Texas."

"Do you want me to write a letter for your Captain?"

The smile on Rae's face gave Theresa her answer.

"Thank you Teesa…Threesa." Rae smiled. "One day I will say it."

"Yes you will. Ok, I will get a letter sent to your Captain tonight, but I need you to tell me what happened with Jesse?"

The room went silent once again and as Rae began to form her words there was a tap on the door and Mark came in. Rae smiled at him.

"You're late."

"I know, honey, and I'm sorry, but you keep going."

"Doctor Sloan, we have done very well today, but we are just trying to find out what Jesse said that made her so upset that she went away and didn't tell anybody."

Mark looked at her and smiled. "Don't let me interrupt, you keep talking, Rae."

Rae was having trouble keeping herself from getting too upset. She was getting fed up with crying all the time, when it used to be something she never did. She took a deep breath and tried to say what she meant without sounding like a three year old.

"Jesse said it was too much. He couldn't cope. It was over…I don't want it to be over, I love him." As she spoke she could see a picture in her mind. She was wearing a blue dress and Jesse was holding a small box and saying things that were hurting her.

Mark saw her eyes fill with tears. "What is it, honey, what did you remember?"

"I had a pretty dress on, and he hurt me."

"Who hurt you, Rae?"

"Jesse, he said…" She stopped; repeating what somebody else had said was very hard for her. They used words that she couldn't at the moment and she felt stupid when she said things wrong.

"He said I could stay if I married him…If he doesn't want me anymore I'll have to leave…I don't want to go." The tears flowed down her face, and she stood up. "I don't understand… why do I have to leave? I don't know where to go." Rae was getting very agitated. She was looking around her as if she was about to run for cover. Mark moved over to her and guided her back to her seat.

"Honey, sit down and listen to me. You came to Los Angeles just under a year ago. Steve's partner went to work in London at Scotland Yard, which is where you normally work."

"No, I live here now." Rae interrupted for the first time in almost six months, and Mark in spite of himself smiled at her.

"You were only sent here for twelve months, and that is nearly up. I don't know if you will be able to stay any longer, but I know lots of people, I will find out for you. Maybe we could get them to extend your stay so that you have actually worked twelve months. That would give you some more time for us to try to get you a permanent visa."

"Thank you, Mark."

"Let's go down and wait for Steve, he should be here in a few minutes. That's all right isn't it, Theresa?"

"Yes, I think we are done for today, Rae, but I want you to come back and see me, every Friday. Until you can say Theresa, I will insist that you remain under my care."

Rae realised what she was saying and moved across. "Thank you Theesa. Maybe I won't ever be able to say it." Then she smiled and turned back to Mark and together with Alex they walked back down to the ER.

Steve pulled into the parking lot. The long route meant that it had taken him almost an hour to get to Community General. He parked in the doctor's area and as he walked towards the main entrance he could see what looked like a body lying by the doors. He broke into a run as he saw that it had long brown curly hair. By the time he knelt down and gently turned the body over he knew that he would look into the face of Jo.

Alex and Mark had just signed themselves back in when Steve came running in with Jo in his arms. "Dad, Alex, help me… Oh, God, please, help her."

Alex had a gurney in front of him before he had stopped talking. "Just lay her down gently. Where did you find her?"

"She was lying just outside the doors. She couldn't have been there long, this place is so busy."

"Ok, Rae will take you to the doctor's lounge, I'll be along as soon as I can. Steve, we'll do all we can."

"Rae? Oh, thank God you're all right."

"Shhh. Steve." Rae smiled and took his hand, then she began to walk and he followed her down towards the coffee pot.

Mark and Alex looked at Jo as she lay on the gurney and Alex removed something from her jacket. Her breathing and heart rate were erratic, she responded to the light but they had no idea what was wrong with her. They sent off her blood work and then she was taken down for x-rays and CT scans. 

Rae looked over at Steve. "I need to tell you something, don't say anything, just listen."

"Ok, honey, what is it?"

"When I went to see Jesse yesterday, he said we are finished. I don't like being alone, will you help me?"

Steve couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was suddenly very angry with Jesse, but that could wait. "Of course I will, you know that. I guess that's why you ran away, huh?  Do you want to talk about it?"

Steve saw her shake her head, and then she sat quietly with her head on his shoulder. After a while he felt her hand on his arm.  "I'm sorry."

"About what? You have nothing to be sorry about do you?" He waited. He could tell that she was upset, and words took longer when she was distressed.

"The rabbit. I couldn't remember the rabbit."

"Rae, there are some things you need to know. But first of all, you remembering the rabbit wouldn't have made any difference, we can't find anything out about them, we would have known what group had taken Jo a little earlier, but that is all."

"Do I need to know other things?"

"Yeah, do you remember how you hurt your head?"

"No. I don't know what happened."

"You were attacked, at a funeral." Steve waited; he knew that normally when he prompted her Rae could remember almost everything.

Rae shut her eyes. She tried to see a picture in her mind of a funeral, she remembered crying, and a white flower. "I had a white flower and I cried."

"No, honey, that's the wrong funeral." He paused. "That was the your dad's funeral."

He saw her brush at the tears in her eyes. "I knew he was gone…" She tried again. She saw lots of people rushing at her and then she saw the face of a man with something in his hand. She gasped and Steve pulled her closer to him. "There was a man did he hurt me?"

"Yes, he had a placard."

Rae put her hand up. "What's a pla…placard?"

"A placard is what demonstrators use to put their slogans, their words on."

Rae's face was troubled. "How did he hurt me?"

"He hit you with the wooden post that held his message. He knocked you out; it took you about two days to come round. Everybody was very worried. It was Jo who saved you, by moving you out of the way of those men."

"She's my friend." Rae smiled. Then she looked at Steve and saw that he had sad eyes. "You haven't finished."

"No. Rae, the guy that took Jo, he was the person who hit you. She took some money from a bank and he was with her when she did it. She didn't seem to be being forced to take it."

Rae was very quiet. When she spoke Steve was surprised by the intensity of her words. "No. She is a good girl. She wouldn't. He is a nasty man, he made her do it."

"Rae, we don't know that."

"I do. I don't want to talk about it."

Rae went over and made Steve a coffee, then she got herself a drink of water moved over and sat next to him.

"She loves you. She is nice, she wouldn't hurt you."

"I thought you didn't want to talk about it."

"I don't…but you do."

"Yeah, I do, but there isn't much to say. I don't even know if she is still alive."

"No…she will be."

After that they lapsed into silence, and sat, Steve with his arm around Rae and they got comfort from each other. One waiting for news of her friend, the other to know whether he still had the love of his life. Alex came in every hour just to let them know that they were still working on her, and he gave Steve the badge of a rabbit over a drop of blood that he had found in her clothes. It was almost four hours before Mark came back.

"Dad?" Steve didn't move, he was frightened to.

"She's in the ICU, Steve. She's been x-rayed, and scanned, there's nothing broken, her blood works have just come back, and there are toxins in there, but we have no idea what they are. We have to hope that we can get rid of them. We just have to wait."

"Dad, can we go up to her?"

"Yes, but, Steve, I think that you ought to know that she is still unconscious, and she has shown no signs of coming round."

"Ok. Thanks, Dad."

Steve and Rae walked up to the ICU. Rae looked around, she could feel thoughts in the back of her mind, trying to come through, but she knew that she couldn't let them not yet. She saw Steve pause as they got to the door, and she took his hand and moved him into the room.

"Come on, we can do this together."

She let Steve sit right next to Jo and then she moved a chair over to be next to him. After about thirty minutes Rae touched his arm. "Steve, why did they do this to her?"

"I don't know, but I will find out and when I do, I promise they will suffer like you have and Jo has."

"No, Steve, please…I hate being stupid, don't make anybody else stupid."

"Honey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it quite like that. And you are not stupid!""

After that neither of them spoke, they just sat hand in hand waiting for Jo to come round. When Mark came in to check on his patient at the end of his rounds, he found them, both fast asleep, still together. He knew that neither of them would leave so he sighed and left them to it.


	12. Chapter 12 Mother Hen

Mother Hen 

It was Rae that woke up first and checked her watch; it was just after nine o'clock. She had spent all night asleep in a chair and was as stiff as a board. Her head was pounding, and she knew that she had to get some medication, fast. She also had to remember to take it with her when she went out, this kept happening.

She checked on Jo, quietly left the room and headed for what she thought was the ER. But instead she found herself at the other end of the ICU and saw a room that she thought she recognised. As she got closer she was suddenly bombarded by memories, she cried out and collapsed to the floor.

Steve had felt her move and had slowly started to wake up. He had looked over at Jo who was still as she had been the night before. Steve stood and began to stretch when he heard Rae cry out. He rushed out of the door and saw her outside the room that Jesse had been in at the end of the Levington case, laying on the floor with her hands up over her head.

"Rae, honey, it's Steve, look at me." There was no response and he rushed into the ICU room and pressed the nurse's buzzer, then he returned to his partner. "Rae, come on you have to sit up, can you do that for me?"

There was still silence, but he saw Rae slowly shake her head as the nurse came rushing down the hallway towards them. "I need you to get Doctor Sloan, Doctor Travis, or Doctor Martin up here right now, tell them that it is an emergency. Slowly Steve managed to get his arms around Rae and he gently began to pull her up so that she was leaning in to him. She was shaking, almost uncontrollably and he knew that everything that she had been trying to forget had just come rushing back at her.

Jesse heard his name over the tannoy along with that of Mark and Alex being called to the ICU. For once didn't have any patients in there and as he rushed in that direction he wondered what the problem was. He was just ahead of Mark and Alex and he saw Rae in Steve's arms on the floor just outside a room he would never forget being in.

"Jess, help me with Rae, we need to get her somewhere quiet, and maybe get Brian to come and see her, I think she has just remembered all about Levington all at once."

Rae began to speak, slowly, one painful word at a time. "He… wanted…to…kill…you… all. Ohh, my head hurts."

"Shhh, honey, just wait a few minutes and we can talk about it." Steve helped her to her feet and glared at Jesse. "She was coming to talk to you about this yesterday afternoon, because I was so tied up. What happened, couldn't you wait a little while before you dumped her, just long enough for her to talk to you, rather than leave all the memories clustered in the front of her brain with nowhere to go?"

"What?" Jesse looked at him. "She asked me why I wasn't there when she woke up."

"You don't like me, Jesse, go away."

"Rae." Alex spoke as he moved over to help Steve guide her to a quiet room. "This isn't the place, come on."

Mark had been on his cell phone while they were talking with Rae and now he moved over to her. "Brian says to bring her right down, Steve, and I'll stay with Jo, Alex needs to get back to the ER.  I think Jesse should go with her too."

"Jo, where's Jo?" Jesse looked even more confused.

"She's in the ICU, she was kidnapped when Rae was hurt the other day. Yesterday she was left in the parking lot downstairs, and I found her. She is still unconscious. But then that wouldn't matter to you would it? You leave those that you love to wake up alone." Steve spat the words out and turned his back on his best friend and then he and Alex helped Rae walk towards the elevator. 

As she got there she shook them off. "I can do it." She waited until the doors opened and then she walked in, leant against the back wall and slid down to the floor. Steve and Jesse got in and left a rather shell shocked Alex and Mark behind them.

Brian Dobson was waiting in his reception area when the elevator stopped on the fifth floor, he moved over and took Rae by the hand. He knew what had happened to her, and had spoken to Jesse, Mark and Theresa about her, but she hadn't been to see him, as she appeared to be coping with her problems on her own, or at least with the help of her friends. But it seemed to him as he watched the scene unfold before him, that friends were the last thing that these two men were.

"Rae, do you know who I am?"

Rae looked up slowly, her eyes were filled with tears and she brushed them away with the back of her hand. She thought for a long time, and then she smiled slightly. "I talk to you, and you help me."

"Yes, that's right. My name is Doctor Dobson.  I think you should come into my office, and Lieutenant Sloan and Doctor Travis should come too. Is that all right?"

"Yes."

Rae was guided over to a chair and Brian let her sit and get her bearings, then he walked over to her. "Doctor Sloan asked me to make sure you took your medication. He handed her the two tablets and a glass of water, which Rae gratefully took from him. After a few minutes he smiled at her, "Ok, do you want to tell me what happened to you?"

"I take a long time."

"That's all right, I have cleared my appointments for this morning, so you have all the time you need."

"I hurt my head."

"Yes, I know and that made you lose your memory of all the things that had happened to you, and it made talking hard, is that right?"

"Yes, but everybody was kind."

"They helped you did they, told you little bits of what happened so that you could fill in the blanks?"

Rae looked at him and began to think. She could remember now sitting in this office and getting very upset. Slowly she began to put things in order in her mind. The first thing that she thought of properly shocked her. "I killed somebody."

"That's right, but do you remember why you killed him?"

"No."

"Because you knew that Steve was in danger."

Rae looked over at him and smiled.

Slowly they began to talk through what had happened from the beginning of the call girl case right through everything that Phil Levington had done, not only to her, but Alex, Steve and Jesse too. She got very distressed and they had to stop a number of times. Steve helped her to fill in some of the parts she was a little hazy on, and held her as she cried, but Jesse said nothing and didn't move from his seat.

When they finally got to where Jesse had been rushed to the hospital and had been in the room where she had ended up this morning Rae looked over at him, and after working out for a while what she was going to say, she began to speak.

"When you were in that room you loved me…I felt bad that you were hurt, but I didn't run away…I need you, Jesse."

"Rae, don't. I can't do it any more; this is the end of it, ok? I'm sorry, I do still love you, I love you too much to stay with you." With that he got up and left the room. 

Rae turned to Steve and brushed at her tears. "Can you get Alex to take me home, then you can sit with Texas?"

"Sure, I'll go get him. Rae, I'm sorry, when Jo is better we can talk, ok?"

Rae just nodded and Steve left the room. She turned to Brian Dobson and gave him a sad smile, then she stood up and walked across the room. "I was married wasn't I?"

"Yes, you were."

"He didn't like loving a cop either." Rae stared sadly out of the window, but Brian Dobson was considerably cheered by what she had said. She understood the situation that Jesse found himself in, and if she understood it then he had every hope that she would be able to deal with it, too.

"They told me I had children, and I didn't believe them, but you met my son, didn't you?" Rae cut across his thoughts as she turned away from the window.

"I met your eldest boy, do you know his name now?"

"Yes…" Rae paused and thought for a moment. "John…and Patrick and Mara." The smile on her face was sad. "How could I forget?"

"The brain is such a complex part of the body, that nobody can tell you why you forgot your children, but you have remembered them now, that is the main thing, maybe you can phone them when you get home."

This time Rae's smile was broad, "Yes. Thank you."

The door opened and Alex came into the room. Rae walked over to him. 

"Hi, I believe you need a chauffeur."

"Yes, please, and a favour when we get home."

Alex took Rae's hand in his and they walked out together. Brian Dobson stood at the door and watched them leave. He had every sympathy with Doctor Travis, but he also knew that Detective Yeager was an exceptionally strong willed woman, he had a feeling that their relationship wasn't dead yet.

Jesse headed for the doctor's lounge and made himself a coffee. He knew that what he was doing was right, so why did he feel so bad. He had sat and watched Rae cry in Steve's arms and all he had wanted to do was push him out of the way and take over, but he hadn't said a word, and until he had walked out he hadn't even been able to leave his seat.

Whenever he looked at Rae he saw her lying in a hospital bed. He was supposed to save people, make them better if they were sick, and the one person that he loved most in the whole world he was unable to help. He tried to remember the good times, but they always seemed to be taken over by the bad. He looked at the time and saw that he was due on rounds. He put his cup down and headed back to work.

Steve rushed back to the ICU, he checked his watch, it had taken Rae just over two hours to talk through the memories that had come back. They weren't complete, but there was very little missing now. He went back into Jo's room and saw his father sat by the bed, holding her hand and gently stroking it. He put his own hand on his shoulder and Mark turned to face him.

"Hi, Son, how's Rae?"

"Alex has taken her home, or at least I imagine he has by now. Jesse was no help at all, and in the end he walked out."

"Try to understand how he feels, Steve, he loves her and he sees her going out to work every day and putting her life on the line for her job, or lying in here, because somebody has decided that she was in their way." 

Steve knew that his dad was talking from bitter experience. 

"You watch your partner… or your child… leave each day, never knowing if they are gonna come back alive. It takes a very special person to be able to cope with that. Trust me, it is the hardest thing in the world to sit with somebody you love that much, and know that there is absolutely nothing that you can do but just wait and pray."

"Yeah, I know, but…have you ever felt like walking away from it, like Jesse has?"

"No, Son, never." Mark paused. "But there have been times when I wished that you did something else for a living. I can understand a little how Jesse feels, and I know that it is a harsh thing to say, but maybe you can understand how we feel too, to a degree, while Jo is lying here." 

"I'm sorry, Dad, I know that I put you in that situation every day, and have for years, but I love my job and so does Rae, and we are both good at what we do. If we didn't do it, who would? I feel guilty every time I see the strain in your eyes, but I couldn't ever do anything else, and I don't think Rae could either." Steve paused for a minute. Then he took a breath and continued. "Dad, Jo used to be a cop. She quit on medical grounds… after Waco."

"My goodness, you know, that was one of the few times that I was glad you were a cop here in LA and not somewhere safer."

They smiled at each other then, and Mark stood up. He hugged his son. "I love you, Steve, and I am very proud of you, I know why you do what you do every day, and I wouldn't want you any other way. I hope Jesse sees that about Rae because he is one of those special people and he'll be incomplete without her."

"Thanks Dad. I'll take over again now, but I would be glad of a visit every now and then."

"You can count on it." Mark turned and left the room and Steve re-took his place by the bedside of the woman he loved. He had been sitting there for just over an hour when he felt her moving her hand underneath his. 

He pressed the buzzer and then watched in amazement, as she just seemed to wake up. "Jo, oh, honey, are you alright?"

Jo stretched and looked around. "What am I doin' here? An' what are you doin' here with me?" She paused. "Steve what is goin' on?"

He took her hand in his and began to talk. "Jo, what is the last thing that you remember?" Steve shook his head, this couldn't be happening to both Rae and Jo.

She thought for a moment. "I went runnin' with Rae, an' then I dropped her off back at her place…then I woke up here."

Mark came rushing into the room and stopped dead. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Jo was sitting up, looking like she had just woken up from a refreshing nights sleep. He moved over to the bed and took her pulse. "Well your pulse is normal. Steve, I'm going to run a few tests, could you go down to the doctor's lounge, and I will get you when I'm done?" Mark was completely confused. He shooed Steve out of the room and then he turned back to Jo.

"Mark, why am I here? Did I have an accident when I was runnin' with Rae?"

"No, honey, not in so many words. You were abducted. Shoved into a car, Rae was attacked and we hadn't heard anything from you until you were left outside the ER yesterday."

"Oh, God, Rae, is she alright?" Jo had been trying to talk the whole time Mark was telling her what had happened.

"Yes, I kept her in over night for observation, but she's ok. She has remembered almost everything that has happened now… and Jesse has told her that he doesn't want to go out with her anymore."

"What! Why would he go an' do a thing like that. I thought they were mad about each other."

"They are, Jo. He just can't cope with loving a cop. You should understand that, having been there yourself."

"Wait up. What did you say?"

"Jo, you were missing for long enough for Steve to go crazy. He looked up your records; he knows what happened after Waco… Steady honey, put your head down to your knees you will be fine in a minute."

Jo had lost all her colour as Mark mentioned Waco, it was as if somebody had unscrewed her ankles and drained all the life out of her. "Oh, God, Mark, I didn't ever want him to find that out."

"Well, when we have done these tests, you will need to talk to him, but he is still here. I know my son, he loves you, sweetie, I don't think he's planning on going anywhere."

Steve sat in the doctor's lounge, and thought over what had happened. He had been so confused when he had found out that Jo was a cop, or used to be one, but now that he had spoken to his dad, and seen how Jesse was behaving, he could understand why she had kept it from him.  He knew that it didn't make any difference to how he felt about her, he still loved her, but the money, well that was a problem. But he would deal with that later. He dialled Rae's number, and for the third time in a row he got a busy signal. He sighed; he guessed it took her a long time to make a call these days. He leant his head back on the sofa and shut his eyes.

When Rae and Alex had arrived back at her apartment she had invited him in. She had told him what she wanted him to do for her and once they had a drink each, he picked up the phone and put in a call to London. It was very early in the morning, but he knew that it was important for Rae to do this straight away.

The phone was answered after a couple of minutes by a very sleepy voice.

"Hello, who is it please?"

"Hi, this is Doctor Alex Martin calling from Los Angeles, could I speak to Tony or John Yeager, please?"

"This is John, Alex is that you? Is it Mum, is she all right?"

"Hi, yeah, it's me, John, listen…"

Alex explained the situation to the relieved and excited young man on the other end of the phone, he told him how long it would take Rae to make up a sentence so that she could speak to him, but that she had written some things down that she wanted to say. Then while John went to wake up the rest of the family Alex handed the phone to Rae.

Rae turned the loudspeaker on for Alex and then waited until she could hear a voice again. "Alex, can you put Mum on?"

"John?"

"Oh, my God, Mum, oh, you don't know how good it is to hear your voice."

"I am so sorry. I can remember now."

"Listen, say hello to Patrick and Mara and then Dad, and then I'll speak to you again. I love you, Mum."

"Ok. John I love you too." Rae waited, and Alex could hear the next voice as it cut across the miles.

"Mummy!! Are you all better now? Mummy?" Alex could hear muffled voices and guessed that Rae's daughter was being told to wait.

"I am almost better, but I have to think a lot before I speak."

"Oh. Didn't you before?"

Rae smiled. There was another pause. "Yes, but not for so long. I love you, Mara. I want to speak to Patrick."

"Mum?" The boy must have been stood right next to his sister, for there was no pause.

Alex saw her face brighten again.

"Hi, honey, how are you?"

"Better now that I can hear your voice. We have all missed you, I love you, Mum."

"I love you too. Is your dad there?"

"Yeah, hold on."

"Rae is that you, you gave us a real scare this time." The voice of Rae's ex-husband was tired and strained, and Alex felt for the man who would have had to help his children understand why their mom didn't remember who they were.

"Tony, I have to read to you, or it will take hours."

"Ok, are you reading all ready, that sounded fine?"

"Yes. I have remembered everything, or almost everything. I'm sorry I left you to tell the children what happened. I will write to them and explain everything, but Tony… I'm not going to come home, I want to stay here."

"Rae!" 

Alex looked up at her. He hadn't seen her write that down.

"I will write to you, everybody can come visit soon, I promise. I have to go now." Rae handed the phone to Alex and then went into her bedroom.

Alex was extremely embarrassed as he began to speak. "Hi, Mr. Yeager, this is Alex Martin, I'm sorry, but Rae has gone now, the accident has changed her a bit, when she has finished what she wants to say she just stops talking. She normally puts the phone straight down." _I wish she had this time too._

"That's ok. Mr. Martin, could you please make sure that she writes to her children, today if possible, or even better sends them an e-mail. They need to know what is going on. This has affected them all."

"Yes, Sir, I will do all I can. Goodbye, Sir."

Alex put the phone down and went into Rae's room. She hadn't shut the door and he was about to speak to her when the phone rang.  He turned back and headed to the living area. "Detective Yeager's residence…Oh hi, Steve… Oh that's wonderful… I'm sure we'll be straight back in… Yeah, ok."

"Rae, that was Steve, Jo has come round."

Rae came back into the room, "I want to see her."

"Ok, come on then. Lets go."

By the time Alex and Rae arrived in the ICU Jo was dressed and waiting for Mark to finish the last of his tests so that she could go home. Mark could find nothing wrong with her, and although he didn't like it he had no reason not to release her.

"Texas?" Rae ran up to her as she called out her name. "You look … great." She looked over at Mark. "Why does she look great?" She hugged her friend and then moved away.

Mark laughed. There had been no hesitation from Rae except that of shock when she saw her friend. "I have no idea, but she is fine and ready to go home."

Steve had been standing quietly in the hallway watching the scene in front of him. His relief was so great that he felt that if he tried he could reach out and take hold of it, but it was more than that. Rae seemed different to him as well. He shook himself out of his reverie and moved forwards.

"Hey, Rae, are you alright?"

"Yes… I spoke to my children and they are fine." She paused and put into words what she had been thinking since she realised that she had forgotten all about them. "They still love me."

"Why wouldn't they, Rae, because you couldn't remember them? Do you love them less because you didn't know about them for a few weeks?" 

There was a long pause as Rae tried to gather her thoughts together. "No, I don't think so, when I heard them I thought I would burst." Rae looked at her partner, needing to hear what he was saying.

"They won't love you any less either. You are their mom, even if you had never ever remembered them, they would have loved you all their lives."

"Thank you, Steve." She walked over and hugged her partner. 

Mark came out of the room behind them and smiled at what he saw. "Well, I have no idea how, or why, but she is ready to go home with you." 

Alex had a wheelchair and he was walking back up the hallway with it. Jo looked at it, and then at Mark. "Oh, no, Mark, I don't have to ride in that thing do I?

"Hospital policy. You are our responsibility until you leave the building, and I am so confused by your case that I have no intention of letting you leave any other way."

"Ok, I'm sayin' nothin' more. I thank you for your hospitality, but I think I would like to leave now." She kissed Mark on the cheek, got into the chair and smiled up at Alex. "Let's go, young man."

They walked down to the parking lot and Steve opened the door to his truck for her, he had taken the wheelchair from Alex at the main doors. He looked over at Rae and then he hugged her again. "I'm so glad you spoke to your family, remember what I said, they will always love you, you're a good mom."

Rae beamed at him and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Ah, Steve, I think Rae is supposed to be the mother hen, not you! Rae did you want Steve to drive you, how are you going to get home?" Jo smiled at her friend as she spoke. She was so glad that she was all right.

"Oh, don't you worry about me, I'll find a way." She looked back at her partner, and he waited for her to speak. "I guess you won't be at work tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I will, I have some fences to mend. I'll see you there about ten, ok?"

Rae smiled him took hold of the chair and headed back into the building, she knew exactly who she wanted to take her home, she needed some answers. She walked back into the ER and found Jesse.

"Jess, I need a lift home, I want you to talk to me, please will you drive me?"

"No, I can't" Jess went to move away, but she began to talk again and he heard the desperation in her voice.

"Jesse, please."

Jesse took a deep breath and making sure his voice was steady he looked straight at her. "Rae, I'm staying here tonight."

"Oh, never mind!" Rae moved away from him quickly, but he heard the anger in her voice and saw the hurt in her eyes as she did so. 

As Rae moved down the hallway she saw Alex coming the other way. "Hi, Rae, are you all right?" He looked at her with concern and she tried a smile.

"Yes, but I can't get home."

"That is no longer a problem, I am just going to sign out. I will take you." He was rewarded with a beautiful smile as he continued towards the reception desk.

Jo and Steve arrived home in time for one of Michael's wonderful afternoon teas. They sat together eating scones, jam and cream and drinking hot cups of tea. They had already had beautifully prepared cucumber sandwiches and to Steve's amazement also egg sandwiches. Jo smiled. "I don't get this treatment very often. I guess he must be worryin' about me."

"He's not the only one, I don't think I will ever forget how I felt when I realised that it was you lying in the parking lot. It was as if I was running through quicksand to get to you, like in a dream… or a nightmare… You know, I had so much I needed to talk to you about, things that I found out when you were … gone, but none of it seems important now." He leant over and kissed her on the lips and she ran her fingers through his hair. 

"Honey, I'm so sorry. I don't remember what happened, but I know I caused you worry an' I would never do that on purpose."

"Shhh you're back now and you're better, that is all that matters." Steve smiled across at her, and then he finished off his scone in one bite and leant back in his chair. "Mmm, they were great. They're not something I normally eat, but they were a real treat." 

They walked slowly out into the garden and ended up sitting together by the swimming pool watching the light get dimmer and the evening draw in. Jo cuddled into to Steve and looked up at him. "I love you, Lieutenant, thank you for bein' my knight in shinin' armour."

Steve felt her lips on his, and he scooped her up in his arms and began to kiss her with a need and passion that had taken over his very being. "Honey, let's go back in." Jo just nodded and they headed for the main staircase. Steve laid her gently on the bed and began to kiss her once again. He felt his t-shirt being pulled from his pants and then she was pulling at his belt, before either of them really knew it they were together on the bed and their bodies were entwined.

"Steve, darlin', don't be gentle with me, I need you so much, right now."

He looked into her eyes and the excitement in them heightened his impatience and he entered her with a groan. He felt her move her body in time with his, and before he had a chance to do anything more they exploded together. "Oh, God, Jo…" Finally he rolled over onto his back and lay on the bed, his chest heaving with the exertion. Slowly he felt his body come back under his control and he rolled towards her and began to kiss her once more.

This time they made love slowly and with a tenderness that showed how they felt about each other more than words ever could. As she felt herself come a second time Jo looked up into the eyes of her lover and saw a world full of trust and commitment. They rolled together and at home in each other's arms they slept for the rest of the evening and through until the sun came up on another day.


	13. Chapter 13 Bloody Rabbits

Bloody Rabbits 

When they awoke the next morning Steve watched from the bed as Jo got up and began to sort out what she was going to wear. For the first time he was aware of everything in the room and he could see that there were some very expensive items. Just as last night he had needed to express his desire for her, he now found that everything she touched made his resentment rise.

Without thinking of the consequences he let his anger take over his thoughts. "So, when were you actually gonna tell me that I was going out with somebody who could buy Manhattan?"

"What? What did you say?" Jo was caught completely unawares. She had been thinking about how they were going to spend the evening when Steve got back from work and then he had launched in on her.

"You, quite possibly the richest woman in Texas, when were you gonna let me in on that little secret. Or maybe you were just gonna keep me hanging until someone more in your league came along."

Jo spun round and caught him across the face with her hand. "How dare you speak to me like that? This is my home an' I will thank you to treat me with respect while you are in it." 

She moved away from him and sat down on the bed. "I never kept it a secret from you, it just never came up. What did you expect me to say; by the way I have $20 million in my checking account? Get real, Steve."

"Jo, look at me." His anger had died down a little and he moved closer to her. "I love you. I put my career on the line for you, and then I find that almost everything I know about you is a lie."

Jo turned to him, and he could see the tears in her eyes. "Steve, I never asked you to do that.  I didn't tell you about my past because it wasn't relevant. I don't live in Texas anymore, an' even though I am head of the company, my brother does all the hard work. I worked for James because I wanted to. I try to live on what I earn, not on what I have."

As soon as Steve had seen her tears his anger had evaporated, he guided her gently into his arms and she leant against him. "I'm sorry, honey, I guess I just felt like I couldn't compete with you or your background. I'm a cop, I'm never gonna have a lot of money, or a big house, what you see is what you get."

Jo smiled at him. "Darlin' I like what I see, I mean I **really** like what I see, it will do me just fine."

"Why didn't you tell me you used to be a cop?"

"Because I can't let those thoughts into my head. I didn't leave the force, Steve, it left me. I had a complete mental breakdown, I was institutionalised an' for a while I didn't care if I never saw the outside world again. What we did to those people…" She let the sentence die and this time the tears rolled down her cheeks. "I travelled the world after I finally got myself back together, an' I ended up here with Michael. He knew everythin' that had happened to me, he was the only one I could trust…until I met you. I was just wonderin' whether I could share any of it with you an' then… well you know what happened."

"Shhh, I can wait. I don't plan to be going very far from your side ever again. It'll keep." He gently pushed her back onto the bed and began to kiss her. He ran his long fingers over her naked body and eventually found the curly hair at the top of her legs. Jo let out a moan as he began to claim her, and she let all the dark thoughts that had only minutes before threatened to overwhelm her dissolve and float away. Then she rolled towards him until he was the one on his back and she began to play her fingers up and down his hard tool until he was on the verge of losing control completely.

Steve opened his eyes and looked up at Jo as she leant over him. As she slowly eased him into her he ran his fingers through his own hair. He took in every part of her body as he watched her and at that moment he gave himself to her, heart and soul. He felt that if she moved any part of herself, he would shatter into a thousand pieces, then as they began to move together he felt himself dissolve into the bed instead and send everything he had into her. He cried her name as the sensations consumed him, all his senses began to swim and he just let his body take over.

It was just after nine when Rae walked into the station. She had arrived by cab, but she was hoping to be able to drive Tom again very soon. Rae had been thinking about the warehouse murders for most of the morning, she had a lot of things going through her mind and she needed to get it down on paper. At the top of the page she had written 'He was an honourable man.' She didn't know why it was so important to her but she knew it was. 

She looked around her and leant back in her chair. She put her head back and laughed. It was just for a second, but Martin who was sitting at the small desk in the corner of the office looked over at her, and Captain Newman heard her too. Then she ran her fingers through her hair and looked back down at the paper.

Captain Newman decided he needed a coffee. He got up and walked across the squad room. As he made his way back he paused "Good morning, Detective, how are you this morning?" He prepared to wait for her answer and was surprised when she looked up and spoke almost immediately.

"Fine, thank you. Sir."

"You seem much more…lively this morning."

Rae smiled, "Normal, maybe?" This time she did pause for a while before she spoke. "I am finding my words better now, and I like being here."

"Yes, I can tell. Have you made any progress on the night watchmen murders?"

"No, not yet, I am still trying to understand."

The Captain looked worried at her words. "What don't you understand?"

"The things that join them together…" Rae tried to put her words together so she didn't sound silly. "Like the gun, the job."

"Oh, right, you want to understand what links them, what makes them the same."

Rae smiled. "Yes, thank you."

"Well, don't let me stop you then, Detective, I do like to see someone enjoying their work." With that the Captain returned to his room and Rae turned back to her pad. She drew a line down the middle; she wrote Matthew Franks on the one side and then after looking through the paperwork on the second murder Edward Judge on the other.

Steve came into the squad room just after a quarter to ten and was surprised to see Rae hard at work. 

"I beat you in!" Rae was beaming.

"What?"

"I beat you in, I've never done that before." Rae looked like a small child who had received a surprise present and Steve's smile was almost as broad as hers. "I have made lots of notes. Do you want to see?" She was almost bouncing in her chair.

"I will later, ok? I have things to do first." 

"Oh, ok." Rae seemed to deflate, but then she smiled at him and he could see her thinking. "You have fences to mend?"

Steve nodded and then he walked over to Martin and stood in front of his desk. "I would like to speak with you in the Captain's office, now please."

Martin looked up and then stood. They walked together towards Newman's office and Steve knocked.

Captain Newman looked up and saw two of his officers standing waiting for him to speak. "Come." He put the folder he was reading down on his desk and waited.

Steve took the proffered seat and looked across at the two other men in the room. He took a deep breath. "I owe both of you an apology, for my attitude to my work and to each of you personally. I have no real excuse, except that I was very worried about Jo, and I let it affect my judgement."

There was silence for a moment. Martin knew that there was no way that he could speak first so he waited for his boss to have his say.

"Yes, Lieutenant, you were very close to being suspended. I will not tolerate any of my officers going off on their own and undertaking private investigations into police matters. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sir."

"I do not expect that kind of behaviour from you. As one of my most experienced and reliable officers you should be setting an example of good behaviour, not bad."

"Yes, Sir, I'm sorry, Sir. Martin, I behaved badly towards you, instead of being somebody you could learn from, and I apologise for that."

"Lieutenant, it's over, but I hope that you won't ever put me in that position again." Martin looked at the detective that he had nothing but respect for. He didn't think that now was the time to mention it, but he had learnt a lot from the way Steve had let his emotions overwhelm him, he hoped he would never be in that position himself, but he had a feeling that he would behave the same.

"Right, Lieutenant, I am prepared to let this go for now. I will restrain myself from writing an official report on your behaviour, but you are still very close to the line. I suggest that you curb your temper and do your job quietly and conscientiously from now on." With that the Captain stood up.

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." Steve and Martin turned to leave the office and had got to the door before the captain spoke again.

"Steve, how is your young lady?"

"To be honest, Sir, I have no idea."

"I beg your pardon?"

"When I found her at Community General she was unconscious, and my dad was very worried about her. But by the next morning she just woke up and had no idea why she was there, or what had happened to her. All the toxins that had been in her bloodstream had disappeared and when I left this morning she was planning to spend the main part of the day out riding."

"Oh, well, maybe you should let Detective Johnson know, he was the officer looking into her disappearance, officially at least."

Steve smiled and then the two detectives left the office. As they did so Steve saw Ron Wagner walking into the squad room.

Rae had also seen him and had risen to greet him. "Agent Wagner."

"Well, Rae, I didn't expect to see you here, how are you feeling?"

"Better. Steve is there." She pointed behind him and Ron turned to see his friend smiling at him from the other side of the room.

"Hey, can't you keep away from sunny LA?" Steve held his hand out and Ron took it.

"I wish I could, but I just got word about Jo Walters and I need to find out what happened to her and what you are doing to get her back. Do you have any idea who has her?"

A smile spread across Steve's face as he realised he had more information than his friend. "She is back. I found her out cold in the parking lot at Community General last night and dad had her admitted to the ICU. As for who had her, well Alex Martin, the doctor who was assisting found a badge identical to the one at the Worthington murder, attached to her jacket."

"Right, yes, I thought it would be her work and not her background that would be the reason for her abduction." As Ron finished talking Steve looked at him, somebody else it seemed who knew all about her. Ron not realising anything was amiss with what he had said, continued speaking. "I want to know when she is awake, because I need to talk to her."

Steve made a show of checking his watch. "Well she is out riding at the moment, but she told me she would be home for lunch." But his pleasure was wiped away when he saw Ron's face.

"You need to get to her and get her back to your father as soon as you can."

"Why, what do you know, Ron?" Steve could feel his temper growing again, and saw Rae stand up and move over to him.

"I need to see her blood work, and tox screens. Did she have any needle marks on her?"

"I don't know, she woke up and was fine, so Dad signed her release form. We spent a quiet afternoon and evening at home, I made sure she went to bed early and this morning she was still fine. Talk to me, Ron, tell me why she needs to be back in the hospital." Steve could feel his panic rise as he spoke

"I can't do that, Steve, but you have to get her there."

"Dammit, Ron!" Steve slammed his fist down on the desk and Ron saw Rae jump out of her skin.

"Lieutenant!" The Captain's voice cut across the room, "I think I need to speak with you and Agent Wagner."

"No, not now, I need to get to Jo." Rae reached out and took his hand but he refused to calm down he turned without another word and walked out of the precinct with Ron close behind him. Rae walked over to her boss and began to speak to him.

"I want to talk to you, in your office."

"Yes, Detective," The Captain had a smile on his face as he followed a woman who he was rapidly realising was a definite force to be reckoned with into his office and shut the door.

By the time Rae returned to her desk thirty minutes later Newman was a very worried man. It had taken a while, but he had listened to everything that she had to say and he realised as she had that Agent Wagner was concerned about what may have happened to Jo Walters during her captivity, a period which had included it would appear a bank robbery and something that had incapacitated her.

Rae went back to her desk; she put the pad away and moved over to the computer. The Captain had asked her to try and find out, if she could, the identity of the group responsible, so they thought, for Jo's abduction and Candi Worthington's murder.

Just over an hour later Martin brought her over a second cup of tea and looked at the screen. "Found anything?"

Rae looked at him. "I have tried everything to do with animals, medical experi…men…tation, even just protest marches. Ooh I hate bloody rabbits."

Martin looked at her. "Did you try that?"

"Try what?"

"Bloody Rabbits, look that up."

Rae gave him a withering stare, but she typed it in and to her astonishment got two results. "Oh, I don't believe this." She was talking more fluently and she recognised the buzz that she used to get as a case began to open up in front of her.

She looked at the first page that came up, there didn't seem to be anything there. She added it to her favourites and then she went back to the search engine and tried the other page. There was a little more information on that one, plus a links page. Once again Rae hit the favourites add button and then moved into the links. In this way, with some help and advice from Martin over the next couple of hours they wove an intricate and extremely complex route across the web. Martin kept a note of the order in which they accessed the sites, and gradually they began to get the information they needed on a group, which went under any number of names from the bloody rabbits through to animal utopia. 

Steve had rushed down to his truck and had phoned Michael as he and Ron drove out of the parking lot. By the time they got to Jo's house Steve knew that Michael would have called the stables where she kept her horse and asked them if there was any way they could contact her.

Steve opened the front door and ran into the dining room, Ron hard on his heels. "Michael, did you get her?"

"No, Sir, I'm sorry, but apparently she planned to hack across country for a few hours and told the staff not to expect her back before noon."

"Dammit. Do you know which way she will have gone?"

"No, Sir. But I spoke to her groom about five minutes ago, he had also been out earlier, and he has said that he will go out himself to try to find madam. He has his cellular phone with him and he will ring here with any news."

"Thank you, Michael, I guess we had better just wait here for a while then. There is no point in going to the stables until we know she is on her way back."

"Very good, Sir, could I get you some refreshment?"

"Thank you, yeah, I could do with a coffee… Michael, I appreciate the help."

Ron had stood and watched the interaction between Steve and the very upright, British manservant, for he had no doubt that was what Michael was.

"She has a butler, a groom, I knew she was very wealthy, but I didn't realise she rubbed your nose in it." The next second Steve was in his face.

"What the hell do you know about it, Wagner? She never brags about her money, I didn't know she had any more than I do until she went missing."

Ron wisely decided to say nothing else, and he breathed a sigh of relief as Michael came back in with the coffee on a tray.

They had been sitting in an uneasy silence for just over ten minutes when the phone began to ring. Michael walked calmly over to it and answered it. "Walters Residence… Thank you, the police are on their way." Michael turned away from the phone and spoke to Steve. "The groom found Miss Walters's horse riderless about twenty minutes ago. He has now found madam; she is being brought back to the tack room."

"Michael, how is she?" Steve held his breath as he waited.

"I couldn't ask, Sir, the signal was very weak. This is the address, Sir."

"Oh, Thank you, Michael, I will keep you informed." Steve and Ron left the house and climbed into the car. It took them half an hour to head out into the countryside that housed her stables. There was a neatly dressed young man watching for them as they arrived.

"Lieutenant Sloan? Miss Walters is in the tack room, she is in a real bad mood."

Steve breathed a sigh of relief, until that moment he had no idea if she was alive or dead. As they moved towards the door, he could hear her voice. 

"I do not need to be nurse maided. I just fell off that's all. You know Jet, he would have come an' got me he always does."

"You make a habit of falling off do you?" Steve walked up to her and hugged her tight. "Oh, God, honey, I have been so worried about you."

"Why, what did I do this time? Don't tell me I lost some more days." Jo smiled at him, but her smiled dropped when she saw Ron standing behind him. "Agent Wagner, why do I feel that you are not here to hug me?"

Ron looked over to the two grooms standing a little way from Jo. "This is a private conversation." He waited until they had left the room. "We need to get you back to Community General, Miss Walters, I will tell you more about it when we get there."

Jo felt her heart sink. She looked at Steve and saw that his face was grave. "Ok, can I go with you? One of my grooms will take my car home for me."

"Your grooms?" Steve looked at her.

"This is my stables, Steve, I was gonna bring you here at the weekend, but I guess my time isn't my own right now." She looked sadly at Steve, "Let's go."

Steve went to take hold of her hand… "No, Steve! Don't touch her!" Ron's shouted warning took them both by surprise and they jumped back from each other.

"What the hell is going on here?" Steve turned, his face a mixture of fear and fury.

"When we get there, I'll explain" Ron moved away from them towards the truck.  

Jo sat quietly in the passenger seat with Ron sitting in the back. They drove in silence to Community General, and it wasn't until they stopped in the parking lot that Jo looked towards him. "I'm scared, Steve, what's wrong with me? You won't leave me will you?  I don't know if I can handle whatever this is on my own." Ron had slipped out of the truck and headed towards the entrance, leaving them to themselves.

"Of course I'll stay, I'm not leaving you. This is where I will be for as long as you need me."

They went in together and saw Ron standing at the desk of the Emergency Room. Jesse moved over to them as they entered.

"Steve, Jo, I think what we need to do is just admit Jo, get her a quiet private room where you can sit and hear what Ron has to say."

Jo nodded, and ten minutes later she was sitting in a very nice room, not the type of room that Ron or Steve usually interviewed suspects or victims in. It was actually a suite of rooms and they were sitting comfortably on very plush furniture waiting for Mark to join them. 

Steve and Jo sat together on the sofa. As Jo went to slide her hand into Steve's Ron spoke up again. "No! You cannot touch each other. Don't you understand that?"

Steve shot out of his seat. "For God's sake, Ron, I can't stand this. You have to tell us why we can't touch. It's not like it's gonna kill us."

There was an eerie silence. "Oh, my, that's what you're sayin' isn't it? If we touch it will kill us." Jo looked at the man who sat opposite her his face expressionless.

Mark came into the room and sat down in the spare seat. Then Ron began to speak.

"We have no idea who took Jo, but they are obviously the people who broke into the laboratories, and I have no doubt that Miss Walters was used as a guinea pig for their experiments. They have a lot of information that you know nothing about, but Worthington laboratories did far more for the government and the armed services of this country than can be made public. The reason that I can't let you touch is that some of the items made there are designed to pass harmlessly into the carrier but prove deadly to anybody that they come into contact with. So yes if you touch it could kill Steve, but probably not Jo."

Steve stared at Ron with a horrified look on his face. "But she was touched by Dad, Jesse, Rae, me …" Steve just ran out of words.

"If she was injected with what I think she has been then it isn't deadly until all her own symptoms have been eliminated. So she wasn't a danger to others until she woke up, and then only to people that she had friendly or intimate contact with."

"Ok, this might be a stupid question, but what do you mean by friendly contact? I'm guessin' that I know what the other one is." Jo looked across at Ron, and he could see that her face was etched with fear.

"If you have kissed anybody, held hands with them, that sort of thing."

"How about hugs? I hugged Rae, an' I don't want to make her ill again. Hell, I don't want to make anybody ill."

"No, not unless you touched hands, or kissed. A hug should be all right, but, and it is a big but, that is only on paper – nobody has, to our knowledge, ever been injected with this before. We are as much in the dark as you are.  But Rae will need to be tested too, and Mark, Doctor Martin, your grooms …"

"So, is Jo going to get ill again?" Steve looked at Ron, and knew the answer. "Oh, don't tell me, you don't know do you?"

"No, that is why she has to stay here, for a week."

"A week!" Jo's tone was incredulous, "but I feel fine."

"Yes, I'm sure, but according to the paperwork the pathogen will only survive in the body for a week, so if you stay here for seven days then it should be out of your system completely and everybody else will be safe. We can also take samples from you each day and chart its progress through your body."

"Why don't I remember bein' injected with this stuff?"

"Because it wouldn't be a very effective weapon if everybody who was given it, knew about it, would it?"

"No, I guess not." Jo's voice could only just be heard. 

"So you're going to use her as a lab rat? Steve said, angrily. "I didn't think I could ever sympathise with the animals who killed Candi Worthington, but I am beginning to understand their hatred of that place."  Steve's voice had got louder the longer he spoke, he was furious and he was scared.

"They didn't know what they had stumbled on, they thought it was just animal experimentation." Ron spat out the words.

"Oh, and you're sure of that are you? Maybe you know who they are, but have decided to keep that to yourself!" Steve was eyeball to eyeball with Ron now.

Jo had got to her feet as well, and feeling her anger rise she also began to shout at Ron.  "Maybe I should give you a kiss, Ron, then you would know what it feels like to be a lab rat too." As Mark tried to intervene Steve's cell phone began to ring and he turned away from the group to answer it. Ron moved towards Jo and there was something in his eyes…sympathy? Pity…? Fear? Suddenly she wasn't so angry anymore, and she sat back down and they all waited for Steve to finish his conversation.

 "Sloan here…Rae…? Oh that's great, good work… No, I'm stuck here for a while…She's fine, but she has to stay in the hospital for a week…No, I said she's fine!… Yeah keep me informed…Rae, just me, ok?"

Steve put his phone in his pocket and turned back to the other people in the room, there was one other thing he needed to know. "So, this wonder germ, does it make the people injected with it originally do things outside their normal character?"

"Yeah, that's why it is so effective, it can make them much more tactile, they want to hold hands with people, kiss them, and other things, making them more open to suggestion, why?"

"Would it account for the fact that Jo robbed a bank then?"

Jo was back on her feet instantly, "I did what?"

"Oh, God, Jo, I'm sorry, I'd forgotten that I hadn't told you… Honey, you took all the money out of the Worthington Laboratories business account, you and the guy that attacked Rae, you signed for the money, but he had a gun pointed at Mr. Martinez the whole time."

"Why wasn't I told about this? A bank, in case you had forgotten is a federal building." Ron was blazing now.

"Because I persuaded Mr. Martinez, the bank manager, to give me 48 hours before he reported it. He knew that something wasn't right, so he agreed." Steve paused. "Nobody else knew I did that." He seemed to run out of energy in front of them, and slumped back down onto the sofa, his head in his hands.

Jo had been staring at Steve the whole time, but now she could keep quiet no longer. "I robbed a bank! Steve, I wouldn't do something like that. How do you know it was me, just because of my signature?"

"No, sweetheart, I have the video of it at my house."

"You what?" Mark looked at his son; he must love this woman very much, because that action alone could cost him his job.

"Not now, Dad, please."

"My, God. I can't believe this. My life is fallin' about my ears an' there is nothin' I can do except sit in this, this, comfy prison an' watch it happen."

Mark stood up. "Ok, I think that this is enough for now. As far as I can see Jo isn't ill, but she has had a terrible shock. I think we should leave her and Steve to talk this through." He held his hand up as Ron went to speak. "I will take a set of bloods from both of them now, and then we **will** leave them alone."

Mark was as good as his word, he took two sets of bloods, and then ushered Ron out of the room. As he left he turned to Jo. "It might be a good idea if you wrote a list of everybody you have been in contact with, and then let me have it. Anybody from the mailman upward."

As he and Ron walked back down the hallway Mark began to speak to the FBI Agent. "I want all the information on that serum… and I don't want any of that need-to-know stuff, if my son has been infected I want to know what is gonna happen and I want to know how to prevent it, which means that I want the antidote, now."

"Mark, do you know how much trouble I can get into if I do…"

"No, but I do know how much you will get into if you don't." 


	14. Chapter 14 Caged Animals

Caged Animals 

Steve and Jo sat and looked at each other for about five minutes then Steve stood up. "Jo, come here, you will have already infected me if that's what's gonna happen, I can't stay here and not touch you."

Jo smiled at him, but she shook her head. "I can't, what if holdin' your hand, or kissin' more than once or twice makes it worse? Ron said it's deadly remember." Jo ran her fingers through her curls and Steve was instantly reminded of Rae, although she hadn't been doing it so much lately. "I can't believe all this is happenin' why did I ever go to work there?"

"Hey, hindsight is a wonderful thing. I love you, Jo. You are the best thing that's happened to me in a very long time, and I wouldn't have met you if you hadn't been working there, so come here, let's agree that hugs and cuddles are safe, and what ifs are off topic, ok?"

Jo nodded her head and sank gratefully into the sofa next to him then she leant back against him and tried to relax.

Ron had headed for the sanctuary of Amanda's path lab. He tapped on the door and then moved into the room. She looked up and took her goggles off. "Hi, what are you doing here?" She saw his face properly as she straightened up. "That is not a happy pleased to see me look is it? What's up?"

"I can't talk about it. I'm happy to see you, but if you're happy to see me then you're about the only person who is." Ron sat down behind her desk, looked at a set of photos that were resting there and stood back up again. "I gotta stop doing that."

"Ok, if you can't tell me **why** you're here, can you at least tell me how long you are going to **be** here this time?"

"Nope, but I am going to try to get my superiors to let me stay until the whole thing is tied up. I am getting fed up with spending most of my life in the air. Besides Sloan is a loose cannon right now, even if he is temporarily confined."

"Confined, why is he confined? I think you had better tell me a little of what is going on."

Ron looked at the woman staring at him. He loved her, and wished they could be together more often than they were. He also recognised that the look on her face meant that he would be lucky to get his foot in through her front door if he didn't let her in on some of the things that had happened.

Rae stood up and stretched. She had hit a brick wall just after she had phoned Steve, and they hadn't found any more useful information for over an hour. They had gone over all the sites again and again, but she couldn't find any names of people they could interview, or any details of rallies or meetings. She looked at her watch and realised that she had been working all day. She was very tired, but suddenly she felt really good. She smiled and walked over to Martin.

"I want to go home now. Ok?"

"Yeah, I think we did well today. Are you back tomorrow?"

"Yes, please, if I can."

"Maybe tomorrow we can have another look at the night watchmen case? It's kinda got lost in all this today."

"We need to talk to their wives."

"Why? They have been spoken to by the officers who got the call, I don't remember anything that made Steve want to rush to see them."

"I just keep thinking about 'he was an honourable man'." Rae yawned. "Sorry, I'm tired. Bye."

Martin smiled at her. She was talking so much better now and the pauses were getting less and less obvious, but when she wanted to finish something she just did it. It could be a bit disconcerting, but he guessed that would disappear in time too.

It was five o'clock when Rae arrived home, Jesse's car was in his space so she paid the cab driver and headed purposefully towards his apartment. She rang the bell and waited.

Jesse looked through the peephole and saw Rae standing there. Part of him just wanted to open the door, pull her inside and start to hug her; the other part felt all the hurt and worry well up inside of him. He opened the door, and just stood looking at her.

"I need to talk to you." Rae smiled at him; she didn't want him to think she was angry.

"Ok, you had better come in." Jesse smiled back, and moved away from the door. "Won't you sit down?" _You are treating her like a stranger. Snap out of it._

"Will you listen and let me talk…? I can tell you when I've finished, if you want."

"Yeah, Ok." 

"I know you don't love me any more…Even though I still love you…But I need you, Jesse…would it be too hard to be friends…?"

"I don't know, Rae. I don't hate you, or not love you, I wish I could say that I did, it would make it so much easier to not be with you. I just don't think I can stand to see you get hurt, and not be able to do anything about it. You seem to only have to get out of bed and things happen to you."

"I don't know how to do anything else, Jess. I like being a cop… But I like being with you too."

"I know, and I like to be with you, but I just can't do it any more. I'm sorry, Rae, I know I'm not describing it very well, but spending time with you is just… too hard."

"You keep saying that… that you can't do it any more… Why did you ask me to marry you then…? I don't understand." Rae looked upset and confused.

"Because I wanted you to be with me, always, but then you were injured again, and it just got harder and harder to watch you suffer." Jesse looked at her; he didn't want to say any more.

"Do you want me to stop being a cop?" Rae looked at the floor. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know.

Jesse considered for a minute. "If I thought you could give up, and not miss it, yeah, I'd like you to quit. Whether you were with me or not, so that you would be safe."

Rae tried to process all the arguments she could think of to answer him. Her words were limited but when she finally spoke her voice was full of passion. "If I stopped, other people wouldn't be … pro…tected… I am proud of this." She pointed to her badge. "No, I won't stop doing it…" She tried to explain some more. "It's …it's who I am, Jesse I don't think I could live without it… not here anyway."

"I know, and I can't live with it, Rae. That is who I am. I'm sorry." Jesse moved away from her and looked out of the window. He could no longer make eye contact with her.

"Jess, you know where I am… If you change your mind…I'll listen to you. But I guess I really am finished this time." Rae got up and without a second glance she left his apartment.

Steve and Jo sat for most of the evening, talking and playing cards. Both of them could now sympathise with Rae who had got extremely fed up with playing snap and pairs. In the end Jo couldn't take it any more and swept her hand across the table. The cards went everywhere.

"Oh, this is drivin' me bug eyed nuts. I don't think I can stand it for another minute, let alone another week!"

Steve got up and moved over to where she was now standing and put his arms around her. "Honey, let's try and be positive, we get a week just the two of us together."

"Steve, I love you very much, but I feel like a caged animal, I can't do this for a week."

"Shhh, yes you can, we both can. I love you too, and I can't think of anybody else I would rather be with for a week of rest and relaxation." He looked at her, he wanted to kiss her with every fibre of his being, but he resisted the temptation and just massaged her shoulders through the back of her shirt, and then began to pick the cards up off the floor.

By the next morning Steve was definitely feeling very strange. The room next to Jo's suite had been opened up for him and then their part of the floor had been placed in quarantine. For a while as he lay there he had no idea why he was in the hospital, but as he sat up it came back to him. He realised in a flash of horror that he had shaken hands with Ron and that Rae had held his hand. The guilt he felt threatened to overwhelm him and he knew he needed to get to Jo to make sure he hadn't harmed her too. He got up to walk into Jo's room, and knew that he wasn't going to make it. Everything swam round violently, and suddenly he was very sick right where he was. Steve sank to the floor and leant back against the bed. He didn't think that he had the energy to move any part of him so he just sat there and hoped that it wouldn't be too long before somebody came to find him.

Jo had been awake for hours. She had been trying to fill in all the names that should be on her list; the idea of her missing somebody off was too terrible to contemplate. The first ones had been easy, awful but easy. She didn't think she had touched anybody apart from Steve, but people had touched her, that had been harder to remember, she ran her hand over her eyes. She felt drained already, and she knew it could get worse before it got better.  Finally she could stay in bed no longer and she got up and began to walk over to her bathroom. As she got to the end of the bed she heard some noises from Steve's room, and with a smile she headed for her door. But the smile fled her face as she heard him begin to vomit in the other room.

Steve looked up weakly and through the haze he saw a shape coming towards him. His voice felt like it belonged to somebody else. "Please get my dad." His breathing was laboured, and as he looked up the figure in front of him disappeared and his world turned black.

"Steve, oh, my, I'll do it right now, darlin', an' then I'll be back." Jo rushed to the side of Steve's bed and began to press the nurse's buzzer over and over again. 

Rae woke up with a headache, she grabbed her medication and once she had taken it she headed for the shower. She stood in there for a long time, going over and over what she had said to Jesse the night before. Then she shrugged, and decided that she could do nothing but get on with her life, however hard it may be.

With that in mind she got ready for work, called for a cab and waited in the front entrance for it with ideas racing around her head. Once she arrived at the station she sat at her desk and pulling her pad towards her she began to make a list. 

She had been working for almost half an hour before Martin came over to her. "Hi, you look busy, how are you today?"

Rae looked up. "Fine. It was good yesterday wasn't it?" She smiled at him and returned to her list. Martin waited. 

"Can I see what you are doing?"

"Yes, I need to arrange things." Martin looked at the piece of paper. Most of the items on it were to do with the things she had found out yesterday, but written at the top were two items just for her. _Get driving tested, get job back._

"I guess that means your proper job, working with Steve, huh?" He would like to have her as his regular partner, but he knew that was never going to happen.

"Yes, I need to drive and be able to carry my gun again. I will go and see the Captain." Rae got up. Then she turned to Martin. "I will be back, then we can work, ok?"

"Yeah, go on, I'll make two drinks, and then we can concentrate on the night watchman case this morning."

Rae walked towards the Captain's door and knocked gently. Then she stood and waited.

Captain Newman had seen Rae working steadily since she had arrived. He was impressed with her dedication, she had been under no obligation to come into work every day, but she seemed very keen to be back where she clearly felt she belonged. He heard the knock and looked up. "Come."

Rae entered and stood by the desk. She felt relaxed and confident with this man, and she wanted to be working for him, officially. "I need to talk to you about my future, Sir."

The Captain smiled. "I thought you might. What is it that you want to say, Detective?"

Rae took a breath; she knew that there was a lot resting on how she spoke about this. "I want to stay here. This is my home now. But if I can't work with you, and Steve and everybody, then I will have to leave."

"I would like you to stay as well, Detective. I have received a letter from Doctor Mulligan, who informs me that she feels that you are fit to work, if this weren't the case, then as you said there is very little point in you remaining here, unless it is to be with Doctor Travis." He saw Rae shake her head and then she continued.

"Doctor Travis and I aren't together any more. Can you get me tested, for driving and for shooting?" Rae winced. That sounded childish. "For … carrying a gun, Sir?"

"It's your reflexes that need testing really isn't it?" The Captain looked at her.

"Yes, Sir." She paused. "The part of my brain that is motor fu…functions wasn't harmed.  But I need to be tested, just in case."

The Captain was playing with a worry ball that he kept on his desk. "Good, good. That is a different part to your speech isn't it…Catch!"

Rae put her hands out and caught the worry ball as it flew towards her. Then she smiled. "See." She threw it back, on target and the Captain sent it back again, this time over to her right. She took it out of the air without any problems, and threw it back.

Detective Campbell was walking down the hallway towards the front desk when he happened to glance into his boss's office. He did a double take as he watched Rae and the Captain playing catch. Then he decided it was probably better if he didn't know why they were doing that, and carried on his way.

"I will see what I can arrange, Detective." The ball flew across to Rae again. "I'll try and get something done for today on the driving, and I would suggest that you and Detective Robertson take a trip to the firing range a little later in the day."

"Thank you, Sir." Rae threw it back one last time and put her hands in her pockets. "I have finished."

"I thought you had. You may go back to work then, Detective."

Rae headed back towards her desk with a smile on her face. She had to take hold of her own destiny, that way she could live where she wanted and maybe one day how she wanted, and then she would be a better cop. Her mind was busy, busier than it had been in a long time. What she had said to Jesse last night was true. Being a cop was more than what she was, it was who she was; she didn't ever want to change that. She had thought that he could live with that, but she had been wrong, for the second time she had been wrong, and once again she was alone. She had coped last time, and she would cope this time too. She squared her shoulders and carried on walking to her desk. She would be the best that she could be, by herself and for herself.

Mark heard the buzzer for the quarantined area and raced to the elevator. It seemed to take forever to arrive at the right floor and then he rushed towards his son's room. He saw Steve lying on the floor with Jo beside him and stopped. Suddenly the seriousness of the situation hit him and he began to speak to Jo.

"Honey, I have to go and get a suit on, I will be back in a minute…He is breathing, isn't he?"

"Yes, Mark, but it's not as good as when I came in.  I'm tryin' to make sure that he's ok, but please hurry."

Mark rushed to the locker room, and in less than five minutes he was back at the door wearing a full quarantine suit. He knelt down by the prone form of his son and began to check him over.

"Steve! Steve, can you hear me?" There was no response and Mark had to push down the blind panic that threatened to overwhelm him. "Jo, honey, tell me what happened." He began to take his pulse as he spoke, and then to check his other vital signs.

"I heard him get up an' I walked to his room so that I could say good mornin', but then I heard him bein' sick an' when I got here he was just lyin' like he is now. Mark, he hasn't spoke or moved since I got in here an' he asked me to call you." Jo swallowed down the tears and watched as Mark tried to get a response from his son.

Mark stood up and walked over to the phone, he barked instructions down it, and before Jo knew what was happening the room was full of other people in quarantine suits and she was being ushered out into the hallway.

In less than ten minutes Steve's room had been turned in to an ICU suite and he was on a ventilator lying back on his bed. A very worried looking Mark had supervised the collection of the vomit from the floor and sent it to be analysed STAT. There were more machines than Jo knew existed all around Steve and she couldn't believe how ill he had become, she knew he had got much worse in the short time since she had found him. _An' it's all my fault. Damn you James, what will I do if he dies?_ "Mark what do all these machines do?"

"Honey, they are keeping him alive right now.  There is a ventilator to breath for him, and he is receiving fluids, saline solution and a broad-spectrum antibiotic, because we have no idea what is causing this. Whatever it is has almost shut his body down. The symptoms are different to the ones you had." Mark stopped talking. All of a sudden he could say no more. 

"Mark, I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am about this. I swear I didn't know…"

"Jo, if Steve thought for a minute you had any idea of what was happening at Worthington he wouldn't still be with you. I don't blame you, and he won't either."

"Thank you, Mark. While you have that suit on I could sure do with a hug."

Mark smiled at her and enveloped her in a very strange smelling, plastic feeling suit and held her close to him. After a little while they pulled apart and Mark ran his gloved finger down her cheek. "You need to be strong for him, honey, he is gonna need you."

"Mark, I love him, I'll be here for him. Did you want to take a blood sample from me while you're here? Then I had better phone Rae. She needs to know what is goin' on, an' I, I just need to speak to her."

Mark nodded at her and took the sample he needed. As he left he saw her sit at the table in her room and pick up her cell phone.

Rae was starting to read through her notes when her phone rang. She sighed, ran her fingers through her hair and picked it up. "Detective Yeager… Hi, Texas, how are you today…? No. Oh, no."

Martin looked over. Rae had lost all the colour in her face. She had her hand over her mouth and she looked… He considered for a moment, she looked terrified. He stood up and moved over to her and wondered how he could help her.

"I'll come now…I'll get someone to drive me." With that Rae put the phone down and turned to face her temporary partner. "Martin, please take me to Community General … I need to see the Captain first."

Ten minutes later Rae and Martin were hurrying down the steps and out into the sunlight. Rae followed Martin to his car and they sped off. "Rae, talk to me, tell me what is going on."

"I don't know…But Steve is in the ICU…on life support." Rae ran her hand over her eyes. "I saw him yesterday he was fine... Real cross, but fine."  Rae started to think, she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket but then put it away again. "I wanted to call Ron…but I don't know his number."

Rae shut her eyes. She was dreading what she was going to find when she got to the hospital. Steve was so strong, the thought of him on life support was … She gave up, she couldn't find the word she was looking for.

Martin drew up outside the main entrance to the hospital and smiled across at Rae. "Do you want me to wait?"

"No. I'll get a ride from… somebody… Martin could you ask the Captain to get my driving put off until the morning?" She saw him nod. "Thank you. I'll let you know how he is."  Rae smiled at him and got out of the car. She stood for a second as he drove away and then with a deep breath she headed into the hospital.

When Rae asked at the front desk for Lieutenant Sloan's room she was told to wait in the lobby. It was ten minutes before Jesse came over to her.

"Jess. I want to see Steve. Why can't I?" Rae looked at this man that she loved who wouldn't love her and she saw almost complete despair in his face. "Jesse, I'm not too late am I?"

"No, Rae, sit down and listen, ok? Steve has been infected with the same pathogen as Jo."

"But she is better. I don't understand."

"No, well that makes two of us. It's germ warfare, Rae, Steve is still alive, but he is dying. Unless we can find an antidote there is no doubt that he will die."

"Oh, God. Poor Mark, poor Texas… Jesse, please let me go see him. Even through the glass, I need to see him."

"You will have to get suited up, but you can see him." Jesse led her to the elevator and they went almost to the top of the building. There were armed guards on the elevator door and the double doors into the suites; they were all wearing quarantine suits. 

Rae said nothing as she was handed the suit she had to put on. It took a while to get it all sealed up and then after Jesse had completed the same procedure they walked together through into another world.

Jo's room looked to Rae like something from a five star hotel, she couldn't see anyone in it, but there was a double bed, a seating area, even a basket of fruit on the table. Then she passed on to the next room and she could see nothing but masks, protective clothing and beeping machines. She put her gloved hands together almost in silent prayer as her eyes sought out Steve's lifeless form lying beneath all the tubes and wires on the bed. Jo was sitting next to him. Rae looked over to Jesse and pointed into the room. He nodded and she entered.

Jo felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Rae's concerned face looking down at her through her helmet. Suddenly the tears she had been trying all morning to hold back started to flow and she flung herself into her friend's waiting arms.

"Shhh. Texas, come on. Come outside just for a minute, maybe he can hear you, you don't want him to listen to you cry." Jo looked at her and they walked together out into the hallway. Jesse took Jo's place at the bedside of his best friend without a backward glance.

"Rae, I am so sorry. I just can't believe all this." Jo was sobbing almost uncontrollably.

"Texas…look at me… This isn't your fault…" Rae paused and Jo strained to hear her next words. "But if I see James Worthington or Ron Wagner any time soon…" Her thoughts were left unfinished, but Jo was left in no doubt where Rae thought the blame lay.

The two friends sat together for a few minutes, drawing strength from each other as they both struggled to come to terms with the fact that they may lose a man they both loved very much.

They were suddenly shaken out of their companionship and contemplation as a cry went up from in Steve's room. They both rushed back but a very large suited figure refused them entrance.

"For God's sake, just tell me, is it Steve?" Jo's voice was high pitched and Rae knew she was only just holding on to herself.

"No, ma'am." The man moved away from them slightly and Jo and Rae could see that one of the people in the quarantine suits was on the floor. 

The doors to the hallway were suddenly flung open and a gurney was rushed through. The two women looked at each other in terror and backed away until the wall stopped them from moving any more. 

As they stood and watched the next room down the hall was being made into another ICU unit.  They could see that the figure on the floor was being intubated and that the people around him or her were very worried indeed.

A figure came to the door of Steve's room. "We're ready for him."

Jo and Rae watched in total horror as the figure was wheeled past them and they could at last see that it was Mark on the gurney.

Realisation dawned on Jo as he went by them. "My God, a touch of the hand, or a kiss on the cheek **will** pass this on." As Rae turned to ask her friend what she was talking about she saw the machinery for another room being wheeled in.

Rae moved towards it. "What is going on here?"

"Excuse me ma'am, but we have to set up an isolation suite down the hallway."

Rae took a very deep breath. "Who for?"

"I can't say, ma'am, I'm sorry."

"My name is Detective Reagan Yeager, please tell me who this is for."

"Agent Wagner, ma'am." Rae was glad he hadn't asked for I.D. It would take her about half an hour to find her belt.

Rae turned back to Jo. "You have to tell me what is going on here. Do we have an epidemic? Mark, Steve, Ron, there must be a pattern here." For a moment Rae let the seriousness of the situation slide. Her mind was buzzing, she felt alive, really alive, and instantly guilty as she thought about it.

"Yeah, me. I did this, an' now they will all die."

"But you didn't touch Ron, did you?" Rae waited but already she knew what had happened and her heart sank.

"No, I don't think so, so how…" Jo tried to think, but her mind was on overload.

"Steve did. He shook hands with him… and then… I touched Steve too."

"Oh, God, all of you are gonna die, because of me…." Jo wrapped her arms around herself and tried to regain control.

"No. That can't happen. James is a scientist. We need to get on to him. Find the cure for this." Rae looked at Jo and was shocked by her face. "What…no, Texas, no. There has to be a cure…there has to be."

"Some of them have no cure." Jo's voice was no more than a whisper. She couldn't believe how much she hated herself right now.

Rae was prevented from answering by the arrival of Ron, who was unconscious. Amanda was stopped by the door.

"Please, I have to go in with him." 

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but this is a restricted area. You can't come in here."

Jesse came out of Steve's room at the sound of his friend's voice. "Amanda, you have to stay there."

"Jesse." Amanda's voice was a sob. "Please."

"Look we are gonna have to set up another area for people who have been in contact with Jo, and all those that she has been in contact with." 

"Jesse you haven't been in contact with Mark, Steve or Ron. You need to stay in that suit. But I don't  … I held onto Steve's hand yesterday, just after he shook hands with Ron." Rae's voice was soft inside her suit as she saw Jesse's reaction.

"Mark, Steve, they're in here too. My God what is going on here?" Amanda looked at her friends and held onto the doorframe to steady herself. 

Jesse felt as if his heart would stop. He looked at Rae and taking a deep breath he asked, "And how do you feel?"

"Fine. I don't even have a headache."

"Good, let's hope it stays that way. I'll find you a room so you can stay on this floor and then we can set up a holding area for anybody that you, Jo, Mark, Steve or Ron have been in contact with elsewhere. My God, if news of this gets out we will have a nationwide panic on our hands."

Jo looked up. "Just use my room, Jesse, I'm goin' back in to be with Steve."

Rae looked at Jesse who just nodded. She moved inside and Jesse followed her. "You're right, you don't need to stay suited up. As far as I know this isn't airborne, but I don't think anybody knows very much about it. So I need to know if you start to feel ill. This moves so fast." Rae watched as Jesse moved back outside towards where Amanda was standing. He didn't know who to talk to first. "Amanda, were you with Ron last night?"

"Yes, he stayed with me. He was fine until this morning and then he just got ill real quick." Jesse grabbed for her as he saw her sway. He eased her onto a chair and crouched down in front of her.

"Amanda, tell me how you are feeling right now."

"I'm all right Jesse, I don't feel ill, just very, very worried."

"Amanda, did he tell you about the pathogen that Jo had?" Jesse saw her nod and carried on "Well then, I need you to go and check the bloods I have taken this morning. Can you do that? There isn't anybody else I trust to do it as well as you. If you put a suit on you should be prevented from spreading it yourself."

"Sure, I will take them with me now. It will take my mind off it… Jesse I'll work on my own and speak or come into contact with nobody."

"No, you have somebody in the room with you. If you are taken ill, I want to know STAT! I'll page Alex and get him to meet you there, in a suit. Don't let anybody in unless they are wearing one, ok?"

"Ok. Thank you, Jesse."

Rae was sitting in Jo's room with her notes spread out in front of her. She was baking hot and feeling a little dizzy. "Jess."

"Rae, what is it?" Jesse was by her side almost immediately. 

"I am boiling in this suit. Please can I take it off before I pass out?"

"Sure, want me to give you a hand?"

"Yes, please."

Jesse pulled the helmet off her, and then began to remove the suit. Rae shivered at his touch and for a second he had to back away.

"I'm sorry, Jesse. Please forgive me."

He removed the rest of her suit without a sound and turned and left the room with it immediately. His hands were shaking inside his gloves. Just for a moment he removed himself mentally from his surroundings. He wanted to go back in and just pick her up and take her away from the danger she found herself in once again. His need to protect her was so strong that nothing else mattered.

Amanda put on her quarantine suit and headed back down to her lab. Her mind was racing, she was worried half to death about Ron, Steve and Mark, but not only that, she was thinking about her boys. Trying to remember if Ron had touched them last night. He hadn't gotten in from work until just after eight. CJ had already been in bed and Dion was playing computer games in his room. No, she didn't think there had been any contact. _Thank God._ Then she thought again. She had touched Ron, could she pass it on? She had started work early and Ron had come with her. The sitter had got both children up and off to school, she thought they would be safe. She would ask next time she went upstairs. She shook herself and began to work. As she did so there was a knock on the door and she saw another suited figure. She waved her hand and it entered.

"Hi, Amanda, Jesse told me to come and stay with you. Can I do anything to help?"

"Yeah, you can help me get this digital imaging equipment up and running, and then you can double check my results for me." 

Alex looked through his mask. "Yes, ma'am."

Soon the two suited figures could be seen working closely together looking at slides on the computer screen, typing up information and talking quietly together. So great was their concentration that neither of them was aware of anybody but each other and the work they had to do.

Rae had got on the phone to the station as soon as Jesse had left the room. She had asked for a low-key police presence in the hospital, not in numbers but in visibility. She had also said that she would keep them informed about what was happening in the hospital, especially to Ron and Steve. She asked for the Captain's extension and told him that he needed to come in and be checked over, because of their game of catch, then she had put the phone down and placing her head in her hands had tried to come to terms with what was going on around her.

About a mile away from the hospital Joseph Donovan was sitting in a coffee shop thinking. They had struck gold when they had stolen the discs from Worthington's lab. But the search for the antidotes at Worthington's house had been a disaster all round. They had just kidnapped Candi Worthington, and had finished spraying the wall with the slogan when she had tried to move towards the phone. They had planned to hold her hostage for a few days before killing her but somehow bloodlust had taken over. Dani had been a bit of a problem afterwards, but he had sorted her out. Her scientific knowledge had been invaluable; he would have done anything, well almost anything to keep her with them. A few kisses, a bottle of wine and an evening at his place and she had agreed to everything he said. She had been one of the original animal rights activists, and was actually in it to save the whale, whereas he saw it as a chance to fight under a banner, any banner, while using the violence he craved to turn every meeting he could into a riot.

He looked up as Richard Crisp walked over with two hamburgers with all the trimmings and a large plate of fries.

"Hey, man, you took your time. What gives?"

"Sorry, I had to dig around the pockets. This cost $10.00. So, now what do we do? The Walters chick has disappeared, according to our information she will be fine by now, and all we got out of it was the money and I'm still eating hamburgers."

"Yeah, well I can cope with that, we'll share it out once the heat dies down. I should have followed the girl and gotten rid of her once we knew she had infected somebody. I won't make the same mistake twice. If you had been given a pathogen that nobody knew existed where would you be kept?" 

Crisp thought for a minute. "A secure hospital. Quietly. I bet she is still in Community General."

"So that is where we need to be. You wanna do the killing this time?" Donovan looked over at Crisp and laughed when he choked on his lunch. "Guess not. Ok, well you know what your part of this plan is then, by the time I finish at the hospital I expect all hell to have broken loose, understand?"

Jo stood up from where she had been sitting for the past hour with Steve. She stretched her aching body and then leant over him. "Honey, I'm just gonna go see your dad for a while, I'll be right back." She didn't say where Mark was, not knowing whether or not he could hear her. She walked away from him and into the room next door. "Jess, I'll take over for a while. Why don't you go see Rae, maybe you could talk?"

"And tell her what? That we are in the biggest crisis of our lives, but, hey, maybe I made a mistake, and when this is over and our friends are all dead we could live happily ever after?"

"Jesse, no." Jo put her hand out to him but he walked away from her. She turned towards Mark and sat down with a sigh.

"Mark, I am so sorry, I have come into your lives an' ruined them, an' I never meant to do that. I would change places with any of you if I could." She ran her hand over her eyes, she was so tired, she had been awake half the night worrying, but no amount of sleep could have prepared her for the day she was having. 

 Rae went over to the sink and poured herself a drink. She suddenly had an insatiable thirst. She sat down and tried to think. Her head had begun to pound, and she felt in her pocket for her tablets. As she put them in her mouth she saw Jesse out in the hallway, watching her. She swallowed them down and turned away. She needed him so badly that it hurt; she closed her eyes to try to shut him out and bring herself back to a state of mind where she could concentrate on what was happening. But for an instant her personal need took over and she turned back to him. "Jesse, please."

He moved towards her, but the elevator doors opened and Alex and Amanda came out. The moment was lost as he turned and walked over to them. "Amanda, what did you find out?"

"I have no idea. Ron, Mark and Steve all have the same bug, for want of a better word. Rae has it in her system, so do I, and I feel extremely sick… Jesse." She swayed as she spoke and Jesse caught her as she fell. "Alex, there is a room set up next to Ron, get me the gurney."

Alex was half way down the hallway before Jesse had finished speaking. He rushed it back and between them, they got Amanda out of her suit and onto it. Five minutes later she was hooked up to all the machines and had become the last member of Jesse's family to be lost to him.

Jo had heard the commotion and turning from Mark's bed had seen Amanda being wheeled along the hallway. She knew that Steve saw Jesse and Amanda as his kin; she had effectively wiped them all out. She had to get hold of James and get him here.

Rae got herself another drink of water and spotted Jo's list by the side of the bed. She picked it up and walked back over to the table. Of all the people that Steve or Jo had actually had physical contact with she was the only one not hooked up to a ventilator. _Why? I spend so much time here I should have a room named after me. _She looked at the list again. Neither she nor Ron was on it. Steve must have forgotten about touching them. She hoped he hadn't forgotten anybody else. Rae had finished her drink and so she went and got another one. Once she sat down again she put her own list of things to do on top of Jo's. She had called everybody who was involved in this case, all the people who had been in actual contact with her, Texas, Mark, Steve, Ron and Amanda were coming in to the hospital to be evaluated.  She had called Amanda's mom and arranged for her to take the children out of school, she had phoned the station and arranged for the school to be cordoned off. She had no idea how they would deal with the children that CJ and Dion may have been in contact with, and she had no space left in her brain to worry about it.  She had even covered the shifts at Bob's.  As she crossed everything off on her list she saw Alex come into the room.

"Rae, can I talk to you a minute?"

"Yeah, sure, I'm not going anywhere." She smiled and saw him visibly relax inside his orange home.

"You're feeling all right, aren't you." 

Rae just nodded; she knew it hadn't been asked as a question.

"You should be on one of those beds, hooked up to all that machinery. You have the pathogen in your system. So why aren't you?"

"I have no idea. All I have is a raging thirst. Do you want some more blood?"

"Yeah, I have Amanda's notes and findings, I'm gonna go back and carry on." He began to draw the blood from her arm and as he did so he looked at her. "You seem so much better. Your talking is almost back to normal. I am so glad."

"Thank you, Alex. The rest of my life is falling down around me, but, hey, at least I can talk about it fluently." She saw him flinch as she spoke and instantly regretted it. "Alex, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have said that. You have been there for me every step of the way since I got hurt. I apologise; it's not your fault." Rae took a breath. Her thoughts, which had been racing, seemed to slow back down.  "I have been trying to get James Worthington all morning… and I can't… Nobody seems to know where the scientists who made the damn thing are… and most of my friends are on …life support. You were just a convenient… whipping boy. I'm sorry." She put her hand up to his face, and rested it on the mask. He put his equipment down on its stand and put his arms around her. They clung together for a long time gaining the strength they needed from each other to carry on.

Jesse walked down the hallway, he would speak to Rae, and maybe they could get through this together. He stopped as he got to the room and saw her in the arms of someone else. He moved back and saw them break apart. Then Rae smiled at the person and he heard her speak. "Thank you, I don't know what I would have done without you since I've been here. Let me know what happens next, ok?" 

Alex picked up his case with her blood in it and, without even noticing Jesse; he headed back towards the elevator. Rae went over to the sink refilled her glass and turned. The hallway was clear and she moved out into it. As she walked along she looked in through the doorways, in each room was a friend, either extremely close or just an acquaintance, fleetingly she wished she was one of them, then maybe the ache around her heart would go away. 

Steve was alone in his room and so she moved over and sat next to him. She pulled on a pair of the latex gloves that were lying on the side and took his hand in hers. "Come on, partner, I need you to fight this. I'm ready and waiting to get back on the job, but you have to be there too." She ran her fingers through his hair and moved a few strands back off his forehead. She picked up one of the disposable cloths and gently mopped his brow.  For the first time he looked vulnerable to her. He was a big, muscular man but now there was no strength in him, he was dying and she could do nothing about it. Rae stood up and swallowed down her fear. "Steve, I'll come back in a little while, but you keep fighting, y'hear, or you'll have me to answer to."

She walked on to where Jo was sitting. Mark was lying completely unresponsive, his hair was messed up and suddenly Rae wanted desperately to neaten it. He was such a dapper man that it seemed so wrong for him to be lying there with untidy hair. 

"Texas, I can't get hold of James, any bright ideas? Does he play golf, tennis, anything like that?"

"No, but he always has lunch at home every day. I'll ring Mrs Barraclough, I won't be a minute." Jo moved out into the corridor and Rae followed her. "Rae, sit with Steve a while an' I'll come an' tell you what I find out."

Rae went back and sat down in the seat she had only just left. Steve just lay there; looking so vulnerable, that Rae felt her heart would break. His breathing was steady but Rae had no doubt that without the machines the pathogen would already have won. She leant over and poured herself a drink of water from the jug behind her and drank from it steadily. As she sat there she became almost hypnotised by the steady rhythm of the machines around her. Shaking herself she returned to her awful reality. She knew that whatever happened, it would take her a long time to get this picture of her partner out of her mind.

Jo came back into the room and Rae turned towards her. "Any luck?"

"What? Oh, no. Mrs Barraclough said that he was feelin' so rotten about everything that he decided to go away for a while. She thinks he's in San Francisco, but she's not sure. I told her we needed him to contact us real quick an' she said she would let us know if she heard anything. I suppose we could put a trace on his credit cards."

"Of course, give me the phone, I'll get right on it." Rae put a call through to Martin and then as she moved away a thought struck her and she came back. "Texas, how do you feel?"

"Fine, I could get up an' walk away from here, I feel fine, the man I love is dyin' an' so are almost all his friends, but I don't feel ill, just sick to my stomach."

"Why don't you feel ill? You were with Steve, why didn't he re-infect you? Did Alex take your blood just now?"

"No. I didn't see him."

Rae moved over to the phone on the wall and called down to the path lab. Five minutes later Alex was back up and was with Rae, Jo and Jesse in Jo's suite.

"Rae, what's up, why did you need me back up here so urgently?"

"Alex, I want you to take Texas …Jo's blood and check it right now. She should be re-infected and she isn't. I want you to see if she has it in her blood, like I do, or I did."

"You still do, I just finished your blood work. I have no idea why you aren't flat on your back, but you're not."

"Alex do Jo's now, and then compare the two. I know I'm not a doctor, but there has to be a reason why she isn't ill. Maybe we can get an antidote from her, or me, maybe I have a natural resistance to it. I don't know that either, but we can't get Worthington or any of his lackeys on the phone, and we have to solve this, now. Before someone dies."

Alex took Jo's blood and headed back towards the elevator once again. Another suited figure came onto the floor as he left it and with his mind whirring Alex went back down to the pathology lab. It had never been his intention to work in this type of investigative medicine, but Amanda had told him while they were working that he was more than capable of doing what she had been and her words kept ringing in his ears as he now carried on her job alone.

Joseph Donovan looked up and down the hallway; he needed to find Jo Walters without arousing suspicion. As he began to walk slowly towards the double doors he heard a voice. "Ah, good a replacement. Nurse Jackson you can go and have your break now. Go straight to the locker room on the floor below and go through the decontamination process, tell no one what you are working on. You'll need to be back in two hours."

"Yes, Doctor Travis."

"Right…" Jesse looked at the face under the mask. "I don't think I know you. You do have experience in this kind of emergency medicine don't you?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good, right, well, I need you to check the vitals on Agent Wagner and Doctor Bentley first, then report back to me, ok?"

Jesse moved away before he got a complete answer and headed off towards Steve's room. Jo was back with him now and she had his hand in hers. "Jo, I need to do some tests on him, can you go back with Rae for a while?"

"Sure, but you come an' get me the minute you finish, you hear?"

"Yes, ma'am." Jesse smiled at her and put his hand out to her. "I will tell you what I find."

Jo pulled off her gloves and walked back towards the room where Rae was sitting. She saw one of the medical staff watching her as she moved up the hallway.  Rae switched her phone off and stood up. "I can't get hold of anybody. Not your wonderful boss, obviously, but now I can't even get his housekeeper, or her daughter, nobody is anywhere that they should be." Rae slammed her phone onto the table and picked up the glass again. She headed towards the tap talking as she went. "I have never been this thirsty, I am either at the tap or the toilet."

"Well, I'm glad that you're not in there right now, because that's where I need to be."

"Ok, do you want me to sit with Steve or Mark? I am doing nothing useful at the moment. If not, if you share the Sloan's I will go and sit with Amanda and Ron. They should have somebody with them…just in case." Rae let the words hang and then seeing Jo nod headed towards Amanda's room.

Donovan walked down and into Jo's room. He couldn't see her so he waited just over the threshold. He had a syringe in his hand and he knew exactly what he had to do. As he heard the door being unbolted Donovan heard a voice. "Hey, you, you are supposed to be taking vitals." Jesse moved up to him and continued talking. "This is an extremely serious situation we are in, if you can't undertake the simplest of tasks I will have you replaced."

"Yes, Sir. I am just waiting to use the bathroom." 

Jesse rolled his eyes skywards and then left the room. Jo, who had heard the exchange and decided to stay where she was, came out into the room. "There you go, it's all yours." She began to move away and didn't realise that he was coming up behind her with the syringe ready to use.


	15. Chapter 15 Guinea Pigs

Guinea Pigs

Rae had arrived at Amanda's door before she realised that she had left her glass in Jo's room. As she headed back she saw an orange suited figure moving up behind her friend. She smiled at him and then seeing his face she froze. "Texas, run! Get out of here now!" Rae screamed at her and Jo needed no second warning. She headed down the hallway, and she could hear feet coming up behind her fast.

Instantly the hallway was full of people, and they were all heading for Jo, but it was Jesse and Rae who got there first.

"Jo, what's wrong? And what are you doing?"

"Jesse, get security up here, now!" Rae came up behind him.

"What!" 

At that moment Jo ran out of places to go and turned to face whoever it was behind her. Her heart lurched in terror as she saw the syringe coming towards her, and then suddenly the man in front of her was taken from behind in a rugby tackle and the syringe went clattering across the floor. Jesse lunged after it and his gloved fingers scooped it up just before it hit the wall.

"Rae, what is going on?" Jesse turned to her as he slid to a halt on the floor next to her.

"He was after Texas…and he hit me."  Rae was struggling to keep a hold on her prisoner. 

"What?" Jesse couldn't think of anything else to say.

"At the funeral… he hit me." Rae turned away from him, she couldn't look at him any more, or she knew her feelings would run away with her. She needed him to hold her and take away her fear so much, but she knew it wasn't going to happen.

It seemed to Jesse that it was then that the whole world went mad. The elevator doors opened and Alex came rushing out, behind him were four people in quarantine suits. One was armed, and the others were carrying technical equipment.

"Rae, Jo, I need you now."  Alex's voice was loud and insistent. He sounded in charge of the situation, and as Rae, who was just locking her cuffs into place on her prisoner, looked back at him she knew that he was. She swapped places with the biggest orange suited figure she could see and went back down the hallway.

As Alex moved away in front of her Rae could see that there was all sorts of equipment being brought up to the floor. The technicians headed for the part of the floor that contained Donovan. "No, the next room along will be better." Rae called and stopped them from carrying on.

Jo and Rae turned towards each other.

"Texas, are you ok?"

"Yeah, you?" 

Rae nodded "That was him, he was the guy that hit me, wasn't he?"

Jo stopped walking. "I didn't know you knew what he looked like."

"I remembered when I was talking to Steve…while you were ill. It was him, wasn't it?"

Jo looked at her friend and realised that she was shaking and she took her in her arms. "Yes, honey, it was him. But I don't think he'll be botherin' either of us again. Now come on, we need to help Alex. Will you be alright?"

"Of course. I have to be. I can go nuts later." She smiled then and looked over at Alex, his face was animated. Rae and Jo walked down the hallway towards him, they looked at each other again and their hearts pounded. 

"You are both immune to this, at least I think you are. I can't infect your blood and make it stick. If you see what I mean."

They both nodded and then Jo spoke. "Can you make an antidote?"

"Yes. Well no, I can't personally make the antidote; I don't have the expertise that's why the team is up here. But they reckon they can have something ready by the end of the day… I just hope that it will be in time."

Rae knew that there was nothing that she could do at the moment but wait.  The hallway was quiet now. Donovan, having tested negative for the bacteria, had been removed to the precinct, and the security guards were back at their station. She saw Jo go back to sit with Steve, Jesse was with Amanda and Alex, now with nothing to occupy him was sitting talking to Mark. The technicians had taken more blood from her and Jo, but neither of them was needed for anything now. 

She picked up the glass of water and slowly she walked back down to the room where Ron was lying by himself and sat beside him. She smiled to herself as she made herself comfy on a very soft easy chair. There was something to be said for getting ill in the luxury suites. She put her hand over Ron's and began to speak softly. "Ron, it's Rae, I am so sorry that this has happened to you. But things are beginning to move now. You will be fine again real soon, there are people working on an antidote right now, just hold on and keep fighting for a while longer." A silence descended over the room, and then the floor, the technicians attended to their work, and the small part of the world that was shut away waited for them with its fingers crossed.

Martin came out of the interview room with his Captain and wished that he was with someone else. That way he could really show how he was feeling. Captain Newman looked over at him.

"It's very good practice, Detective, to have to keep your feelings under control. Especially when you feel like throwing something across the room."

"Yes, Sir." They walked into the Captain's office and Martin shut the door behind him.

"So, what do you think of Mr. Donovan?"

Martin took a breath. "I think he's arrogant, egotistical, and very overconfident. I also think that he is a guilty as sin."

"Of what, Detective?"

"Well, we know that he attacked Rae and was planning to attack Miss Walters, but I think he is involved in the break ins, he did have some of the pathogen in that syringe. Maybe even the murder too. But…I don't know how we will ever prove it."

"I have instructed Detective Collins to go over his apartment with a fine tooth comb, and…" The Captain stopped as his phone began to ring.

"Newman…I have no comment…I beg your pardon…No, Sir, you may not speak with Lieutenant Sloan…I have no information on that, I'm sorry." 

Martin watched with concern as the phone was slammed back onto its cradle. "Sir?"

"Somehow the press has gotten hold of the fact that there are people in the ICU at Community General with a genetically engineered pathogen. Apparently it will be on the next news." He picked up the phone again and put through a call to Rae's cell phone number.

Rae was sitting quietly when she felt her phone begin to vibrate in her pocket. She had turned the ring tone off after she had begun to sit with Ron. She got up to leave the room. "Ron, I'll be right back, don't you go anywhere!" She moved out into the hallway and answered her phone.  "Detective Yeager…Sir…No, no change, but there is an antidote being made as we speak…what, who let that get out…No, Sir, I'm sorry, Sir." Rae shut her phone and slid it back in her pocket. She thought for a minute about the Captain. Because she hadn't made actual contact with him he had been deemed safe. Amanda and Alex had found some notes of Ron's where they had been left after he had collapsed in Amanda's lab, and it had stated categorically that it had to be direct contact to pass on the pathogen. She was glad. She had no idea how Texas was containing her guilt, she didn't know if she could have coped with finding out for herself that she had made someone sick and she only liked the Captain. Texas loved the person she had infected; Rae didn't want to ever have to find out how she felt. She ran her fingers through her hair and then she turned wearily and went off in search of Jesse.

Jesse was sitting talking to Amanda about how well Alex was doing when he heard a noise behind him. He turned and saw Rae standing there. He was concerned at how tired she looked, but he just stood and waited for her to speak.

"I just got off the phone with the Captain. The press have the story." Rae said no more. She waited.

"Oh, thank you for letting me know." Jesse turned back towards the bed. 

Rae went to say something and then thought better of it. She left the room and returned to her comfortable chair. She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew there was a hand on her shoulder, and the world outside was dark.

"Rae, come on, wake up, we need you."

She looked around to see Jo's anxious face looking down at her. She ran her fingers over her eyes and smiled up at her friend. "Texas?" Suddenly she remembered where she was. "What, what's happening?"

"They think they have an antidote. We have to go to my room." Jo held her hand out and Rae took it gratefully. Together they walked hand in hand down the hallway and into the bedroom that had become part of their comfortable prison. Jesse and Alex were waiting there for them. She noticed that although Alex was still in his suit he had the thin latex gloves on.

"Rae, we need to give this to you first, you seem to have a natural immunity, and I think that should make you the strongest person to be the guinea pig." Jesse looked at her as he spoke and wished that he could say more.

"I will just take a note of your vital signs first, then after you have signed a disclaimer form, I will give you the medication." Alex smiled at her as he spoke.

"Of course, is it an injection?" She saw Alex nod and then she signed the piece of paper in front of her, rolled up her sleeve and waited for him to do his work.

"I want you to lie down in here, Rae. I'll stay with you for half an hour to see how you are. Then we'll check it and I'll give it to everybody else. I know it is a ridiculously short amount of time, but I don't know how much time we have." 

Rae looked at the young man and saw that he was on the verge of exhaustion. She put her hand on his arm and gave it a squeeze. "Alex, you have worked miracles already, I am happy to be your guinea pig, however many times you need me." She watched as the liquid was forced in to her arm and then she sat down on one of the sofas, leant into the corner of it and, bringing her feet up onto the seat, made herself comfortable.

As she lay there, she began to feel very dizzy. "Alex, something is happening, I feel really weird." He moved over to her immediately and began to check her over. 

Alex put his hand to her forehead. "Your temperature has risen, and so has your pulse." "Not very technical I know, but I'll check it properly in a minute." 

Rae nodded at him and lay there waiting for the feelings to subside. She accepted the thermometer and felt his fingers on her wrist. Then slowly she closed her eyes and felt herself float away.

Alex sat and watched his patient. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully; he hoped that was a good sign, but he really had no idea. After thirty minutes he took a sample of blood from her, Rae made no response to him, but her breathing was deep and even. He took it over to one of the technicians and then waited impatiently moving from window to window, looking at his friends and colleagues in each room. He moved back to check on Rae but she was still fast asleep. He went back to where he had started and waited outside the door for it to open. It seemed to be taking forever, but eventually a smiling young woman opened the door and spoke.

"We did it, Doctor Martin, the pathogen is radically reduced in her bloodstream. I think you can safely give this to everybody else now. Well, as safely as possible in these conditions."

Alex and Jesse moved from bed to bed making sure that the antidote was introduced into their IV's. As they worked Alex saw one of the technicians move towards the elevator. She had a carrier full of the antidote and she was headed to the room that had been quarantined off for those people who had been in contact with the pathogen but had yet to succumb to its effects.

"Jesse, do you want to go check on Rae? I'll keep an eye this end of the hallway."

"Yes, thanks, Alex." Jesse walked back down to the first door on the hallway and moved over to where Rae was lying on the sofa. He had also changed into latex gloves and he placed his hand gently on her forehead and was relieved to feel that her temperature had fallen. Slowly she moved and opened her eyes.

"Hey, handsome, how are you?" Rae saw Jesse blush, and realized instantly what she had said. She sat up. "I'm sorry, Jesse." She turned her eyes away from him and felt him begin to examine her.

"How are you feeling, Rae? Has the dizziness passed?"

"Yeah, and the thirst. I feel like I could sleep for a week, but apart from that I feel fine. What about the others? Did we get an antidote?"

"Yes, we did, now keep still, I want to take one more lot of blood from you and then you can go back to sleep. No one will wake you again until the morning."

Rae watched as the blood ran into the syringe then she looked up at him. "No, Jesse, I will go back and sit with Ron. Nobody should have to wake up alone." She knew what she had said, and without a backward glance for any reaction she got up and left the room.


	16. Chapter 16 The Monster Vanquished

The Monster Vanquished

By the next morning at nine Rae was back at her desk, she hadn't had much sleep but at least her four friends were all on the road to recovery. Now all she had to do was try to stay calm about the fact that she was taking her driving evaluation in twenty minutes.

She was reading the interview transcript from the previous day with Donovan, but his attitude, even on paper, was making her extremely angry. In the end she slapped the folder down on the desk and got to her feet.

"Rae, are you all right?" Martin looked at her with concern in his eyes.

"No, yes, no. You know I have no idea."

"Would you like me to come with you for your drivers exam?"

Rae smiled. "Yeah, would you? I could do with a friendly face. Especially if they have to peel me off the wall at the end of it."

"Well, I tell you what, you can drive me there, just to get your concentration levels up, and if you pass you can take me out for lunch, ok?"

"Ok, it will be nice to get back into some sort of routine."

Ten minutes later they were walking out to Martin's car together. As they got closer he threw her the keys, she caught them easily and with her confidence rising she climbed into the drivers seat.

Her confidence was repaid with a permission slip to begin to drive alone again. With a smile as wide as it could be she drove Martin towards the station. As they were discussing where to go for lunch her cell phone began to ring.

"Detective Yeager…Oh, hi, Alex, yes, all right, I'll come in right now…No, I admit it, I forgot…yeah, bye." She put her phone down on her lap and with her eyes on the road began to talk. "Martin, I'm sorry, but I have to go to the hospital so that they can drain the last of my blood. I was supposed to have it done first thing this morning, but I forgot."

"That's ok. Why don't we just have lunch there?"

Rae rolled her eyes and said, "Martin, I know you admire Lieutenant Sloan a lot, but there is no way that I am gonna have two partners who eat hospital food out of choice, ok?"

Martin felt the blush run up his face. "Yeah, I guess so. Why don't we go to your place, you can pick up your little red car and I'll see you back at the station? We can have lunch another day." 

Rae had pulled up at a traffic signal and so she looked across at him. "Do you mind? I think that would be better. Thank you." The lights changed and Rae headed off towards her apartment block.

She happily eased Tom into a space in the hospital parking lot and then headed for the main entrance. Rae hadn't thought of the reaction her arrival would create in the lobby of the hospital. As she walked in she was instantly surrounded by at least a dozen reporters and microphones were thrust under her nose.

"Detective Yeager, is it true that you were infected with this bug…?"

"How many people died of this…?

"Were you used as a guinea pig for the antidote…?

"Is it true that the pathogen was ready to repel the alien replicants living in our cities…?"

The room went silent.

"I beg your pardon?" Rae looked for the voice that had spoken.

"Hi, I'm Shelby Turner, from the Daily Comet." A stunning blonde woman smiled at her and Rae smiled back.

"Oh, yes I've heard of you. I have no comment to make. Good day to you all."

Rae turned purposefully away from them and headed for the elevator. When Rae arrived at the path lab, she was astounded to see Amanda working there, looking as if she had never left. "Amanda?"

"Rae, hi, how are you?""

"Fine, I think. I was asked to come in to give some blood. I wondered why I had to come here instead of the ER, is everybody looking as good as you?"

"Yes, we are, sweetie, thanks to you." Rae swung round as she heard Mark's voice and there standing in the doorway were Mark, Steve and Ron, all looking as if they had never had a day's illness in their lives.

"Oh, my…" Rae could say nothing else. She moved towards them and was soon caught up in the middle of a group hug. 

Slowly they moved away from each other and with her eyes shining she looked at the four people in the room with her. "I can't believe this. This is wonderful…" She stopped talking. She had no need to say anything else.

Mark began to talk again. "It seems that the antidote just wiped the system of whatever it was that made us ill in the first place, everybody has now been treated, and they are all fine." Then he shuddered. "It's not a field of medicine I want to be involved in ever again." He turned as he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked into the loving eyes of his son. 

"I think that goes for all of us, Dad."

Together the five friends walked towards the doctor's lounge ten minutes later. Rae had given her blood sample and was now enjoying their company. As they went into the room she saw that Alex was already there. "Hey, super doc, how are you today?"

Alex blushed a deep shade of crimson and looked away. "I'm sorry, Alex. I didn't mean to embarrass you." She turned to the other people in the room but her words were directed towards Mark. "You would have been so proud of him. He was the consummate professional. I'm sure that he was just as scared as the rest of us and even unsure of his abilities at times, but he never let it show. I felt completely safe with him, and I have no doubt that if things hadn't worked out the way they have, it wouldn't have been for the want of trying on his part."

"Honey, I'm proud of you too. That was quite a speech you just made." Mark was clearly delighted with what she had just been able to say.

Now it was Rae's turn to blush. She had spoken from the heart and had been completely unaware of putting any effort into the production of her words. Now for the first time she knew that she was going to come through this. 

"Steve, where's Texas? She's all right isn't she?"

"She's fine, but she wanted to go home, get changed and freshened up before she came down town to make a statement and identify Donovan."

"Oh, ok."

She moved across to get herself a drink of water and found Ron at her shoulder. "Rae, I just wanted to thank you for sitting with me, you have a very calming presence."

Rae looked at the tall FBI agent with amazement. "You knew I was there?"

"I was aware of you, I could hear your voice, I couldn't understand what you were saying, but that didn't matter, what did matter was that somebody cared and wanted to be there." He smiled at her and moved away.

Mark came over to get a coffee and he had something in his hand. "This was waiting for me when I came back down to the ER this morning." He held up a brown envelope. "It's a letter from the head of the police commission, he says he can see no problem in extending your contract for at least another year."

"Oh, Mark, thank you, thank you so much." She flung her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek. Then she turned and ran in to Steve's arms as he held them out to her, and then to her surprise and delight he picked her up off the floor as he hugged her.

"Isn't that wonderful? Another year, another year at least." She looked up at her partner and he could see the tears shining in her eyes.

"I can't think of anybody else I would rather work with. Cheryl will be back, I'm gonna suggest that she works with Martin, I think we will make a very strong set of cops, what do you think, partner?"

"I think I agree." She smiled then and they both turned together, and for a second their lips met. Their eyes locked briefly and then suddenly embarrassed, she moved away and grabbed her drink.

Half an hour later Rae, Steve and Ron headed back down to the parking lot. Rae had offered to drive them to the station because Jo had taken Steve's truck, and Steve was waiting for the reaction he knew was going to come any minute.

"Here we are gentlemen." Rae stopped by the side of Tom and looked across the top of the car.

"And where is here exactly, Rae?" Ron stared back at her.

"Your carriage awaits." Rae was smiling now.

"Yeah, but hasn't the fairy godmother forgotten to turn it from a pumpkin into something that actually goes?" 

Steve stood back, he was enjoying himself no end.

"Get in the car, Agent Wagner, before the clock strikes twelve and turns you back into something that lives in a hole in the ground." Rae opened her door and watched as the two tall men began to argue.

"After you, Lieutenant." Ron indicated with his hand that Steve should get into the back. 

"No, no, Agent Wagner, I insist, you can get in first."

"I believe that I am a little taller than you, so if you wouldn't mind." Ron looked over at Steve again.

"This lady is my partner, it is my place to sit in the front."

"Oh, for goodness sake!" Rae leant over and locked the passenger door. "You can both sit in the back."

"Rae." Steve stared at her a look of astonishment on his face.

"If you behave like children then you will both be treated like children and have to sit in the back. Now move it, or you will be walking."

With a glare at each other, the two men folded themselves up and sat down together on the back seat. Then as Rae watched them in the rear view mirror she smiled to herself and began the slow leisurely drive back to the station.

As Rae and the two men walked back into the squad room Martin Robertson stopped them. "We need to get to Donovan's place, Chapman just called, they have found some very interesting stuff."

Steve and Ron looked at each other and then turned stiffly back round. 

"I won't be a minute, gentlemen." Rae smiled at them and headed towards the Captain's room. She knocked and waited for an answer.

"Come in, Detective."

"Sir, please may I have your permission to go to Donovan's house with Lieutenant Sloan and Agent Wagner?" Rae waited.

Captain Newman looked at the young woman across the table from him. He knew that she was unaware of the impression that she was portraying, which was of someone with a desperate need to return to normality.

"You have passed your drivers exam, and you only have to be tested at the shooting range, yes, Detective you have my permission. Please tell Lieutenant Sloan I would like to see him upon his return." He stopped and smiled. "I have finished, Detective."

Rae smiled back at him and hurried across the squad room, "Right come on, let's move."

As they reached the parking lot Ron smiled across at the rest of the party. "I have my car here, I think that Detective Robertson should come with me, and Lieutenant Sloan can travel with Detective Yeager."

Rae opened her door and got in, she saw Steve make a mock bow in Ron's direction and then he got in with her. As she turned to him he took her hand in his. "I've missed you, Detective, let's go." 

They arrived at a very tatty run down apartment block on the outskirts of Van Nuys and drew up in front of it. They could see a black and white and another car parked together just ahead of them, and they all began to walk towards the main entrance.

Detective Campbell came out of the building and headed towards them. "Rae, it's good to see you back, I think you will find some very interesting stuff in room 303."

Rae looked around the room. Campbell had been right, the room was interesting, very interesting.  In the corner was a bed that she would have sent out with the rubbish years before. Above it on the ceiling was a full-length mirror. She repressed a shudder. The rooms were painted a very dark glossy burgundy, a colour she normally loved, but couldn't live with like this.

Steve opened the dark wood wardrobe, which was standing next to the window. Inside it were a few items of clothing, but it was the boxes in the base that were of most interest.

There was a video camera and several tapes each one labelled with the date and a number. There was also a disc carrier, which had five CD ROMS in it. Steve gently removed them and looked at the fronts. They each had written on them, in black marker pen, a number. 1, 3, 5, 8, and 9.

"I guess they split them up between them. I wonder who has the rest." Rae looked at the discs and then back into the box. Underneath were pamphlets, some on vivisection, and animal experimentation, but more on the production of petrol bombs, inciting a riot and how to hack into government computer systems. There was a set of invoices for the weekly rental of a set of offices, which they made a mental note to check later. But nothing was quite as bad as the book under the bed. It was a small notebook and the writing inside it was tiny and neat. It looked totally innocent, until they started to read it.

Rae had looked at it first. She sat down on the one chair by the dining table, next to a computer which would be taken back to the station to be checked, and began to flick through it. Steve had been cataloguing the pamphlets in the closet when he heard her gasp. He and Ron, who was turning out a drawer in an extremely unhygienic looking kitchen moved over towards her. 

"Rae, what is it?" Steve put a hand on her shoulder and she gratefully put her own hand over it.

"This book. It has all the synthetic pathogens listed in it. I have no idea why he copied it all out, but for each CD there is a list, with its symptoms, of everything on the disc, whether there is an antidote, and a rating as to how useful it would be to them along side. It reads like a licence to annihilate.  I would guess that this is the one we had." She pointed to a page that had been highlighted. It said #239 at the top and underneath was the description of the nightmare they had just experienced.

#239 

_This is designed to enable the infiltration of a secure corporation or compound. The initial contact is made by injection that will render the recipient unconscious for up to twenty-four hours. There is a chance of nausea upon regaining consciousness. Once they have recovered they will be completely unaware of what has happened to them and they will be easily influenced into undertaking courses of action that would have been unthinkable before._

_Once infected and conscious the carrier will unwittingly infect every person that he/she comes into physical contact with. The nature of the pathogen means that the carrier will be far more tactile than a non-carrier. Handshakes and/or kissing will pass it efficiently as will sexual activity. _

_The carrier will be immune to the pathogen and will carry on spreading it until he/she is injected with the antidote or until it leaves the bloodstream seven days after the initial infection takes place, at which time they will also be open to contamination. There is a possibility of a small percentage of the population being immune to #239 only succumbing to a rampant thirst.  So it is suggested that this is used in conjunction with #2904 being introduced into the water supply, which should efficiently eliminate any survivors. _

Underneath the official description there was another paragraph of writing.

Injected Jo five times with 239. Seemed to go into overdose after the third one, but only lost consciousness after the first and fifth injections. Was easily persuaded after first injection and agreed to everything suggested to her. She lifted $175,000 from the bank for the chance to buy a magazine and get an extra pillow on her bed. She lost all her inhibitions and became extremely aroused every time anybody went near her, especially me! Managed to make sure I didn't touch her, or she me, but it was hard. She was very friendly.

Steve turned away from the group and Rae could see he had his fists clenched. Rae moved towards him and he turned. "Don't say anything, Rae, I don't want to hear it." He walked out of the building and Rae could see him waiting by the cars.

They packed everything that they had found into the boxes from the closet and headed back towards the station. 

Jo was sitting at the desk in her study with a pot of coffee that Michael had just brought her. Her hand lingered over the telephone receiver and then taking a breath she picked it up and dialled a familiar number, then she put the phone on loudspeaker and leant back in the chair.

"Walters Oil, how may I help you?"

"Good mornin', Mary, may I speak to Mr. Walters please?"

"Good mornin', Miss Walters, I will put you straight through."

"Josephine, is that you, honey? My God I've been so worried."

"David, I'm sorry I didn't phone you before, but things got a little out of hand here."

"But you are all right?"

"I'm not really sure. I'm scared of how I'm feelin', an' I haven't felt like that since… well you know since when."

"Jo, what happened? Do you want me to come up an' see you?"

"No, not yet, David, but I may come an' see you, real soon."

"That would be nice, it must be three years since you have been here."

"David, I have to go, I'll call again."

Michael walked back down the hallway towards the stairs. Her past held some very dark times; he had no wish for her or anyone who knew and loved her to ever have to go through that again, but he knew that there was a possibility of it.

Rae and Steve walked into the interview room and Rae stared at the man who had taken six months of her life and then she sat down without a word. Steve started the recording equipment and took his seat next to his partner. "You have already been cautioned, Mr. Donovan, this interview is carried out under that same warning. Do you understand that you are entitled to have your lawyer present for this?"

"Yes, I waive that right."

"You are sure that you understand what that will mean for your defence? I would seriously suggest that you invite your lawyer to be present."

"Very well, Lieutenant." Donovan made Steve's rank sound like an insult. But neither detective responded to what he said.

Rae and Steve moved out of the room and waited for the arrival of an oily little man called Max Robbins. It took him twenty minutes to travel to the station and then the interview was re-started.

"I would like to state for the record, that have nothing to say." Then Joseph Donovan folded his arms and sat looking at the two detectives in front of him. Every now and again he would run his eyes over Rae and smile. 

Steve could see that she had her hands intertwined together under the table and that her knuckles were white. After twenty-five minutes, during which time both Rae and Steve had tried to question Mr. Donovan without success, Mr. Robbins stood up. "I would like to have a word with my client, in private, if I may."

Steve and Rae also stood up and moved outside the door. Five minutes later the lawyer joined them. "He refuses to say anything. I have no idea why I was brought out here to listen to silence. I can do that at home, Lieutenant."

"Because we have procedures which we follow, Councillor. Your client is gonna plead not guilty, but we have the evidence to put him away for a long time. We need information on the other members of his association, but we will find that ourselves. I'm sorry you feel your day was wasted, good day to you, Sir."

Mr. Robbins smoothed out his black pinstriped suit and, picking up a very battered black briefcase, he headed back towards the main entrance and Steve and Rae called the guard in to return Mr. Donovan to his cell.

Rae grabbed herself a cup of tea and walked over towards her desk. She saw a figure she thought she recognised, from when they had been interviewing the activists originally, sitting at her desk and moved a little quicker. "Ms Barlow?"

"Detective, I want to make a statement."

"Oh, do you need a lawyer?"

"No, ma'am, I just want to tell you what happened."

Steve had moved over and began to speak. "Were you involved in any illegal activities, Ms Barlow?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Well then, I think you had better call your lawyer." Steve smiled slightly he didn't want to frighten this young woman.

"I don't have one, the one who came last time was provided by Joseph."

"Joseph?" Rae raised an eyebrow.

"Donovan?"

"Oh, right." Rae was writing all the time she was speaking.

It took just over three hours for a lawyer to be found and Dani Barlow to give a statement that covered almost ten pages. She would face a considerable amount of jail time for what she had done, but as she was taken away Rae could tell that her life had brightened as she had eased her conscience.

As they returned to their desks again Steve heard his name. "Sloan, my office now."

He looked over at Rae and then walked slowly towards the Captain's office. He shut the door behind him and waited for permission to sit.

"Lieutenant, can you give me one good reason why I shouldn't have your badge?" Captain Newman's voice was tight, and Steve knew that he was only just stopping short of giving him a serious ass chewing that the whole precinct would be able to hear.

"No, Sir."

"Good, because I wouldn't have believed you. You have been rude, insubordinate, you assaulted a fellow officer, and I now understand that there is a possibility of withholding information and evidence."

"Assaulted, Sir?"

"How else would you describe slamming Detective Robertson against the wall? You assaulted a fellow officer."

"Yes, Sir."

"Did you withhold information and evidence?"

Steve took a deep breath. "Yes, Sir, I did."

"You are an experienced detective, you know what can happen to you over this."

"Yes, Sir… Please Sir, could I sit down do you think?"

Steve suddenly felt that he couldn't stand up any longer. Now that the case was almost over, and Rae and Jo were both back with him he began to realise just what he had done.

"Sit down, Sloan, and let's see if we can rescue your career from its ashes."

Rae was sitting at her desk, trying not to look over towards where Steve was. She knew that she should be the next person in that office getting her head bitten off. She had, once again, worked just within the rules, and she had been with him when Steve had done the same. She groaned as a thought came into her mind. That is not the way to get a permanent visa, girl.

In the end she could stand it no longer, and she went off in search of Jan Burlington. 

Jan was just enjoying half a cup of cold coffee, which had been sitting on her desk for thirty minutes when she saw Rae walk into her office. She stood up and walked over towards her. She had visited her once or twice, but she hadn't seen her in weeks. "Hi, Rae, how are you?"

"Fine, I am back on the job now. I just have to have my shooting tested in two days and then I will be like before. Well, almost like before." She smiled at her friend and perched on the corner of the desk.

"Well, you sound wonderful, you look great. I am so glad that you have recovered so well." 

"It was hard, and I couldn't have done it without my friends, but I think I remember most things now, and I know I can still do my job, so I mustn't look back, or get angry about what happened. I know I am very lucky." 

Jan went to reply and her phone began to ring. 

"I'll leave you to it." Rae raised her hand in a wave and headed back up to her own desk. Steve was still in the Captain's office, and she knew that there was nothing for it but to just sit and wait.

"Lieutenant, you are one of my best officers, I do not want to have to put this on your permanent record. So what I suggest is this. I am concerned about you returning to work so soon after contracting a genetically engineered disease. I would much rather that you didn't come back for another week. I would also suggest that you attend the next anger management course at Community General. If you do both these things, and also return to me the items that you have conveniently removed, I will consider ending the matter." The Captain paused for a minute while his words sank in. "Lieutenant, from what I understand, your young lady will face no charges for what she did."

Steve couldn't belief the amount of relief that flooded through his body. He looked over the desk at his Captain. He had always admired him, and now it appeared that the feeling was mutual. He got to his feet. "Thank you, Sir, I will let Miss Walters know that, and I appreciate your faith in me." Steve moved towards the door.

"Oh, and, Lieutenant, a quiet word in Detective Yeager's ear about breaking and bending the rules, would be a good idea too."

"Yes Sir." Steve left the room, and walked over to his partner. "I think now would be a good time to leave."

Steve and Rae sat together two hours later looking out at the beach, drinking cold soda on the deck. Rae looked over at her partner and began to speak.

"I can't believe that anyone would make something like that, would invent something that could kill everybody on this planet one way or another. 

"This time the good guys won. The monster was vanquished. But that's just one pathogen of all those made at Worthington, and Worthington is just one lab of, I don't know hundreds or thousands making these things." Steve leant over and put a hand on her shoulder as he saw her shudder. 

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better!"

Then he continued speaking.  "I think that Joseph Donovan is a very dangerous man. In fact I don't think he realises just how powerful he had the ability to become. He seemed to be almost Svengali like in the hold he had over these people. They were like a group within a group."

"Dani Barlow was completely infatuated and dominated by him until he moved away from her once the murder and abduction had taken place." Rae shook her head. "You know she joined the 'bloody rabbits' because she really did care about what was happening to the animals in research laboratories. She wasn't a violent person, and yet she will go down for first-degree murder, abduction, and whatever you get charged with for injecting someone with a synthetic pathogen. I wonder if it will help her cause that she told us where they made the pathogen, and where the money was." 

The details that Dani Barlow had given them had matched up with the address found at Donovan's place. When it had been raided the remainder of the discs had been found, along with all sorts of experiments in various stages of completion. The money had been split up and deposited in various accounts around the city, but almost all of it had now been recovered.

"Twenty-eight years old, and she will probably spend the rest of her life behind bars because of that monster. We stand the chance now of getting all the others put away, thanks to her, but no I don't think it will make much difference to her sentence. What they did to Mrs Worthington isn't going to inspire leniency in anyone." Steve leant back in his seat, the sun was warm on his face and he was, he realised very tired.

Rae looked across at him. "I'm gonna head back home, Steve. You look like you could do with an early night. I'll see you at the station in a week, ok?"

Steve stood up and looked over at her. "Yeah, ok, I think you're right." They walked back into the house together. "Rae, you know where I am if you need me, don't you?"

"Yeah, I know." She smiled and then Rae went out of the front door and Steve continued down into his own apartment. 


	17. Chapter 17 Leaving The Fold

**Leaving the Fold**

Steve had been asleep for about three hours when his phone rang. "Sloan here."

"Ah, Lieutenant Sloan, this is Michael, could you please come over to the house, now, if at all possible? Miss Walters needs you."

Steve was out of bed before Michael had stopped speaking. He had no idea what was wrong, but he could hear the anxiety in the manservant's voice. "I'm on my way, Michael." 

Steve broke the speed restrictions all the way to Beverley Hills, but with his siren blaring and his light flashing, he didn't give it a second thought. He screeched to a halt in front of the large double doors to Jo's house and found them opened for him before he was even out of his truck.

"This way, Sir, Miss Walters is in the lounge."

It was true that Jo was in the lounge, but Steve had a feeling that she was actually somewhere else entirely. She was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest, and she was staring off into space.

"If you would sit for a minute, Sir, I will explain a few things to you."

Steve just nodded and Michael began to speak.

"Miss Walters was orphaned at a very young age. Her brother David was three and she was five.  She was, apparently, a very quiet studious child, and found it almost impossible to show her feelings to anyone, especially after the accident which claimed her parents lives."

"Do you know what happened to them?"

"They were killed in a house fire. The children were saved by their then butler, but the parents perished."

"Oh." Steve could think of nothing else to say. He looked over towards Jo, but she seemed totally oblivious to their presence in the room.

"They were raised by their maternal grandmother, my previous employer, in Texas. Then when she was old enough Miss Walters joined the police force. There had been a few instances in her past when she had been called upon to deal with a crisis situation. Her grandfather had a heart attack in front of her when she was sixteen. She saved his life, and when she knew that he would be fine, she went to pieces herself. So we always knew that was the way she handled difficult situations." Michael paused and took a deep breath. He had never told anybody what he was about to tell this man, but he knew that his mistress loved and trusted him, and he needed some help with what they may have to do.

"I know that you found out she was released by the police on medical grounds after Waco. It took six months for the realisation of what had happened to finally cause her to move from depression to complete mental and physical break down. She was taken into a closed institution and for three years she saw none of her family, all her friends gradually drifted away, and by the time she came home, apart from Mr. David and her grandparents she was completely alone."

Steve's heart ached for her as he listened to her story. "There's more to come, isn't there?" Steve desperately wanted to go over and sit with Jo, but he knew that he had to hear all that Michael had to say first.

"Yes, Sir. After she was discharged she stayed at home, in Texas, for just under two years. Gradually she regained her spirit and her sense of self worth. Then one day she just decided to leave. She packed a bag and nobody heard from her for eighteen months. Her grandfather died, and her grandmother had by this time moved back to Los Angeles and when she passed on I kept the house open and waited for Miss Walters to come and claim her inheritance."

"That was when she travelled the world wasn't it?"

"Yes, and then two years ago, she just turned up on the doorstep one Monday morning, and she has been here ever since."

"You say she was depressed, how depressed?" 

"She tried, once, to take her own life, but I am still not sure if she meant it or if it was an accident. She became very withdrawn after Waco, and would go for days without eating anything. She had tablets to take, and if she forgot to take them one day she would just take two the next. One day she took fifteen."

"And now, once again, she no longer needs to cope and so she is turning in on herself. What do you think I can do to help her, Michael?"

"She loves you, Sir. If you don't mind me saying so, Sir, I have never seen her as happy and content with life as when she is with you. I thought that if anyone could get through to her, it would be you, Sir."

"I will try, Michael, but I don't know how successful I'll be."

"I'll be in the kitchen if you need me, Sir."

Michael left the room and Steve looked over at the woman sitting on the sofa. She was staring out of the window behind him, and her hair was straggling down her back. She had old jogging bottoms on and a LAPD t-shirt that he had given her.

 He moved over and sat down on the sofa next to her. "Jo, honey, it's me, Steve. Can you hear me?"

To his utmost surprise and relief she turned her head towards him and nodded. "Oh, God, Jo, are you alright?" He held his hands up in mock surrender. "I know, stupid question, I don't know what else to say."

"Don't say anything, Steve, just hold me, hold me tight."

Steve put his arms around her and could feel her shoulders start to heave as she began to cry on his chest. He gently stroked her hair, but after a while he stopped doing even that and just let her sob.

After what seemed like hours, but Steve imagined was about twenty minutes he felt her begin to come under control. She raised her face towards him and smiled a very watery smile.

"I'm sorry, honey, I just can't help myself."

"Shhh, it has been a rough few months. We are all feeling it. I have been given a week to sort myself out, Rae took six months to get back to some sort of normality, and we have all been stretching ourselves to the limit."

"But, Steve, in the past…"

"Shhh, in the past you were part of a horrendous situation. This was nothing like that. I know what you are afraid of, you are afraid that because of this your past is gonna come back and haunt you again, aren't you?"

Jo couldn't speak. He had just put into words exactly what she was feeling. She nodded and waited for him to continue.

"Nobody is going to let that happen. You have got close friends here who care about you, three of them happen to be doctors, so you are covered on that score. Two others are cops, and one of the cops is me, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you ever again. Well, except good things, ok?"

Jo put her hand up and pulled Steve's face down towards her own. She began to kiss him deeply and he forgot all the other words he had planned to say. 

Michael, realising that the lounge had descended into silence, moved slowly towards the door. He looked round the frame and smiled at the sight of the two people kissing passionately on the sofa. This time it looked as if they had saved her all by themselves.

After half an hour Steve took Jo by the hand and led her to the bedroom. He made sure that she was warm and comfy and then he lay down on top of the covers beside her. Gently he began to rub circles on her back and slowly he felt the muscles relax and her breathing deepen. Then when he was sure that she was asleep he turned onto his back and lay waiting for the darkness to claim him too.

Neither of them awoke until almost lunchtime the next day. Jo rolled slowly over and smiled at the picture of her lover lying there, fully clothed, fast asleep, hugging a pillow. Then she lay on her back, and looking up at the ceiling she began to make plans in her mind. She had been thinking for over half an hour when Steve finally began to stir. "Well, good mornin' darlin'," Jo checked her watch. "Nope, I lie, good afternoon."

"What, Jo, afternoon? Uugh, I hate sleeping in like that."

"Honey, if you didn't need it you would have woken ages ago, so would I."

"True, so how are you this morning?"

Jo looked again at this man that she loved so very much. Then she took a deep breath. "I'm gonna go home, Steve… alone. I need some time, an' I haven't seen David in a very long while. I'll keep the house on here, for now, while I sort out what I want to do with my life."

"Jo, no, honey, please, don't leave me here." Steve felt his chest constrict. He hadn't even considered her leaving him. "I need you."

"Baby, I know you do, but I need me more. I have to be kind to myself for a while. Honey, I have to be honest with you, I don't know if I can live with a cop. I thought I could, but I don't know."

"Oh, God, Jo, don't do this to me, please." Steve got off the bed; he couldn't believe how the conversation had filled him with such despair.

"Steve, I have to look after myself. When I came to Los Angeles I knew that I couldn't work in an environment where I was gonna be puttin' my life on the line every day, or where I was involved with people who were doin' that. I went to work for James because I thought that I would be helpin' to provide new medications for people like my grandpapa who had a bad heart. I bought shares in the company, an' I helped to pay for the up to date equipment by anonymous donation. James never knew it was from me." She paused and took a drink from the glass by the bed.

"Then I found out that I was payin' for the very research that nearly killed you, an' your entire circle of friends. The woman who I now consider to be my closest friend was nearly killed as she had to be at the funeral of a woman murdered because of that research, an' I was kidnapped, drugged and was almost responsible for wipin' out one of the largest cities in our nation."

Steve stared at her. When she talked like that he could easily blame everything that had happened on her.

"Honey you are turning yourself into a scapegoat. I could blame almost all of that on myself. So could Rae. Stop it. You aren't doing yourself any favours by talking that way."

"Maybe so, but I know that, for the time bein' at least, I have to get out of this town."

"And I can't talk you out of it, and you can't say if you will ever come back?"

"I'm sorry, Steve, but that's the way it's gotta be."

Steve knew when he was beaten, he moved over to her and kissed her gently on the cheek. "When you are ready to leave let me know, I hope you'll let me run you to the airport, to catch your flight."

"Honey, I can leave whenever I want. The plane belongs to me."

Rae had woken up the next morning at just after eight. She wasn't due back into work for a week. The Captain had decided that if Steve was going to get a week off because of the pathogen, then she had better be off for the same period of time. Kira was curled up on the other pillow. As she lay there, she thought over what had happened in the last year. 

As she went through the pictures in her mind she almost became detached from reality. She relived the feelings when she had first seen the body of Hana Marlow, and the helplessness she had felt when she had thought it was her own daughter. The fear as she felt the scarf go round her throat, and then the unrelenting sense of vulnerability and panic as Philip Levington had first stalked her and then attacked those people she held most dear to her heart in this big city. 

She thought about her children. She missed them, and sometimes the pain of being apart was so strong that she could see it. But she wanted to stay in Los Angeles, of that she was certain. She had good friends here, and a job that with all its problems she loved. Mark had said that he would talk to some contacts of his, and he had been true to his word. Her job was secure for another year, and her children understood why she was staying.

Slowly her mind moved on to Jesse. She missed him so much. He was just the other side of the wall but he could be a million miles away. As she lay there she realised she could hear him moving about. He actually was, at that moment, just the other side of the wall; she got up, slipped on a pair of jeans and a shirt and headed purposefully for the door.

Jesse was just looking at the mail when he heard his bell ring. He moved over and opened the door without checking the peephole and came face to face with the one person he had been trying not to think about for the last twenty four hours. "Rae." He just stood there, so she took all her courage in both hands and walked in and closed the door.

"Jesse, we need to talk, really talk, now that I can hold a proper conversation without sending everybody to sleep while I work out my words." To her relief she saw him smile and as she held her hands out to him he took them and she saw love in his eyes.

"Oh, Jesse, please, I can't live this life on my own. I need somebody with me. I have a hard job, I know it's dangerous, I know I worry everybody sick every time I leave the house, but I need to know that somebody cares enough about me to stick with me…I want that somebody to be you."

Suddenly she needed to sit down. Everything that she had she'd put in to her plea to him to take her back. If he said no, she didn't know what she would do.

Jesse sat and looked at her, this woman that had taken over a part of his soul. He loved her so much that it hurt. But it hurt more to see her lying in a hospital bed unresponsive and close to death. He knew that if he let her back into his life he would never be able to let her go again, it wouldn't be fair to her, and he didn't think he could do it anyway. Suddenly he realised what he had just thought, he couldn't let her go. He turned to her then and placed his hand on her cheek.

"Jesse?" Rae was unsure what to do or say.

"I love you, Rae, I have loved you with all my heart since the first time we kissed. I can't live without you any more." He pulled her towards him then and began to kiss her, at first Rae couldn't respond, she was so relieved by what he had said, then gradually her feelings turned to those of pleasure and she began to kiss him back. She ran her fingers through his hair, and over his back. They kissed and snuggled up to each other for a long time before Jesse moved away. "God I've missed you."

"I was always here, Jesse, I just couldn't reach you, you wouldn't let me."

"I know, I was scared, scared of losing you."

"Jesse, I was never lost, you just couldn't find it within yourself to reach out and take me back."

"Rae, I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. You were just being true to yourself, you couldn't cope and you were brave enough to admit it. I couldn't understand it, but that was partly due to my injury, I needed you, and I couldn't see why you didn't feel the same. Maybe you should be glad I couldn't work things out on my own. I may not still be here."

"No, don't say that, Rae. There were so many times that I nearly came back to you, but I was just so scared. You have no idea what it is like to see someone that you love lying hurt and you being unable to do anything about it, especially when it's your job to care for the sick."

"Yes I do, Jesse." Rae's voice was a whisper now. "I watched you chained to a radiator, unable to breathe, and then I saw you lying on a gurney in an ambulance with Mark sitting with you so worried and frightened. Then when I remembered again that morning in ICU it was like I was living it all over again. It happened to me for a second time, but the feelings were still the same. I was supposed to protect you, keep you safe, and I failed."

"No, honey, you didn't fail, he's in jail. We are together, the past can't hurt us any more, not if we don't let it." For an instant the flowers and get well card flashed through Jesse's mind, but he pushed them away.

"I always felt that together we could do anything, Jesse, when I was with you I was complete. I could be what I wanted to be and I knew that you would support me and stand by me. We had a hiccup that's all, I guess it was a big one, but it's over. Now shhh, we have things to catch up on that are far better than words." She pulled him to his feet and with a glint in her eye she began to slowly undress him. Jesse felt his heart begin to pound, and he forgot everything except the now and as she ran her hands across his chest he pulled her towards him and back onto the sofa.

As Rae felt his hands begin to undo her shirt she felt fear replace the passion she had been feeling moments before. "Jesse, no. I… I can't."

"Rae?" Jesse moved away from her. "Honey, I'm sorry, what's wrong? I thought you wanted to do this." Jesse couldn't understand what was going on.

"Jesse, I'm sorry too, it's just that nobody has touched me for six months…I'm just a little nervous."

"Oh, Rae, come here, we don't have to do anything. Just sit with me for a while, we have all the time in the world for this."

They sat back down and Jesse put his arm around her. Rae laid her head on his chest, the feeling of his skin against hers felt wonderful. She stayed where she was, enjoying the feeling, listening to him breathe and taking in his scent for a while, then she slowly kissed his skin and traced her fingers in the shape of kisses across his shoulders. She felt Jesse begin to play with her hair. "Jesse."

"Shhh, we will take this as slowly as you want, I love you, I'll wait." Jesse ran a finger down her face and under her chin; gently he raised her face until she was looking up at him. "Can I kiss you, sweetie…please?"

"I would be disappointed if you didn't." She smiled at him and then moved a hand up into his hair. His face moved down towards hers and she began to kiss him again. This time she felt no fear, but the stirring of feelings that had been dormant for too long. "Take me into the other room, Jess." 

"Are you sure?" She nodded at him and so he stood up and took her by the hand and they went together towards the bedroom. Gradually Jesse slipped the shirt off her body and undid her bra. He stepped back for a second and smiled. "I have missed you, Rae, all of you."

Slowly they finished undressing each other, and Rae opened herself up to the feelings that had scared her only a little while before. "Oh, God, Jesse, now, please, honey, now."

Rae felt her head spin as Jesse came inside her. Her fear began to return as she felt the room begin to move. "Jesse, help me…"

Slowly Rae felt Jesse brushing her hair off her face. "Rae, honey, please, come on, baby, it's all right."

"Jesse…? What happened?" Rae looked up at the worried face of Jesse. "I'm sorry, did I spoil it?"

"What? No, honey, you fainted at the end that's all. I should have thought of it, when everything was released you just … passed out. How do you feel now?"

"Extremely embarrassed! But complete, I feel complete again."

"No, Rae, don't be embarrassed, it's fine, I take it as a compliment, sweetie". She smiled at him and he climbed back onto the bed next to her, and even though it was mid morning they curled up together and fell into a dreamless sleep.

It took Jo three days to get her affairs in order in Los Angeles, and then she called Steve and asked him and Rae to come and visit with her.

It was mid afternoon when they arrived and rang the bell. Rae had never been to her house before, and was amazed by it.

"Good afternoon, Sir, Madam, won't you please come in?" Michael opened the door to them and directed them into the breakfast room. As they passed the lounge Steve could see that all the furniture had been placed under dustsheets.

"Hi, Rae, how are you feelin' today?" Jo stood up and moved across to her friends. She looked tired and her hair was scraped back into a clip, but she seemed pleased to see them.

"Texas, I'm fine, but I'm worried about you. I tried to call and call, but I couldn't get past Michael."

"I know, I couldn't talk to anybody, I had to do this first." She turned to Steve and tears welled up in her eyes. They had always shown him her mood, she could have happy eyes, or sexy smoky eyes, but now they were sad and full of trouble. "Honey, I have to do this, you do understand that don't you?"

Steve looked away from her. He felt as if he was living in a dream, that if he could just wake up she wouldn't be ready to leave him, maybe forever. "I know, I just don't want it to happen."

Rae moved over to her friend and held her arms out. "I will miss you, Texas, you helped me to find myself again. Thank you. You have my e-mail address, you keep in touch, ok?"

"I will. Can you give us a minute?" 

"Of course, I'll go and wait in the car." She leant over and kissed her friend on the cheek and then she took her into her arms and hugged her, hard. Rae put her hand on Steve's shoulder and squeezed gently as she walked past him. "Don't hurry out, I'll be fine."  Finally brushing tears from her cheeks Rae headed back out towards the entrance hall.

Jo rubbed at her eyes and turned back to Steve. She loved him with everything she had. Nobody had ever meant as much to her as he did, but she had to get away. "I can't stay, Steve, I have to go. Rae said I helped her to find herself. Well, when I was feelin' like a little lost lamb, you found me and brought me back. Now I have to leave the fold so that I can find myself again. Do you understand that?"

"Yeah, I do, and I will be here, waiting for you. When you find yourself, I hope you will come back and find me too." It was Steve's turn to hold his arms out and she ran into them and they held each other tight, as if they may never have the chance to do it again.

An hour later Rae and Steve stood on the balcony of the visitor's lounge at LAX and watched as the private jet taxied along the runway. Steve took Rae's hand in his own and she moved closer to him. As the plane got smaller and smaller and then finally took off into the deep blue sky above them she turned to him. "Do you think she will come back, Steve?"

"I hope so, Rae." He watched as the plane turned into a dot and then disappeared completely.

"I hope so too, partner, I hope so too.

The End.

Author's Note: Can I just thank everybody who has stuck with me throughout this story, and left such wonderful reviews. I am already working on the next story, which I hope you will also enjoy.

Thank you

Tracy


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